For Moffat County High School sophomore Ty Spencer, the Work and Life Skills Coalition's after-school program was a way to prepare himself for the work force before he joined it.

"I wasn't really thinking about it until my mom talked to me about it because she said it would be a good experience for me," Spencer said. "It's just getting the knowledge she never got in high school. She had to learn it all on her own."

Susan Whinery, a retired English teacher and the program's coordinator, said molding students into superb employees early is what the program is all about. Classes started this week at the high school.

"I want employers to say, 'Wow, I am so glad I hired this kid. I want him to come back and work for me next summer.' Or, 'I want to work a schedule so he can come work for me during the school year,'" Whinery said.

A total of 116 students, including MCHS, alternative school and homeschool students, enrolled in the 11-week program, which is funded by a one-time grant through Moffat County Department of Social Services.

After an extended application deadline, Whinery said she was pleased with the enrollment total and the way classes had begun. In its first week, students learned about how to get a job, goal-setting and respect and safety in the workplace.

"We had a really good starting turnout. The kids seemed to be excited and interested," Whinery said. "Now we're just going to settle into the routine. We've got to get the bugs worked out."

The primary goals of the program include promoting healthy life choices, preparing students for the work force and preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Program requirements include attending each of 11 modules, which are offered five times each for flexibility's sake, and a portfolio of work at the end of the program.

"We want to work with kids and their schedules, but when they come to these modules we want them to plan to attend the whole module," Whinery said.

Those students who complete all of the program's requirements are rewarded with a laptop computer. Other prizes for partial completion also will be distributed.

"I want them to know how to give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay," Whinery said about the program's goals and incentives.

She hopes to hit that message home with their keynote speaker, Eric Chester, during a presentation to all of Moffat County High School's population April 13. Chester is a specialist on training and recruiting young employees - ages 16 to 24 or so.

She also hopes that the overwhelming involvement of local businesses in the program will resonate with participants.

"I hope they genuinely learn things from community employers that maybe their parents said or maybe their teachers said, and it wasn't relevant," Whinery said, "but now they're hearing it from people in the trenches."