Ethan Bettis

Ethan Bettis ’17 spends his days balancing school, hockey and work. He works at AquaOasis Pool and Spa, a small business located on Merle Hay Road. Bettis is an unpaid intern who assists in sales of chemicals, hot tubs and pools. He works every day after school to fulfill the 170 hour minimum the students must achieve.

“I’m a salesman so I go in there and I’m able to watch over the store with my co-worker, Phil. We sell chemicals for pools and hot tubs, so they will keep your water clean, and we also sell pools and the hot tubs,” Bettis said.

Before going into the school to work program, he had known that he wanted to go into the sales field. Volesky assisted him in finding the right internship for his preferences. With some interest in small business, Bettis chose to work for the small sales company.
“I wanted to go into sales and it’s given me a big range of skills that I wouldn’t have learned here at school, and it’s also taught me other parts of small business, which is something I could always be interested in as well is starting my own business,” Bettis said.

Last semester his schedule consisted of five periods, including the school to work class. He would then spend the rest of his day working. Second semester Bettis only has four periods of classes, allowing him more time to work at AquaOasis.

Unlike some other students, Bettis does not completely know what his plans for college and after college are. “I still don’t really know what I want to go to college for,” Bettis said. “I’m trying to figure out what I can do with hockey in college.”

Bettis was offered a job at AquaOasis upon graduating. He enjoys School to Work because it allows him to experience working before he receives the job. It creates many real-world situations that students would not be able to experience in a class at school.