Madison Consolidated High School Senior Evangelina Delgado has received a perfect employee evaluation and special recognition from Arvin Sango, where she works 30-40 hours a week through the Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (ICE) program.

Arvin Sango is required to evaluate their employees on work ethic, maturity, and other necessary characteristics for employment. “She (Delgado) got a perfect score from them, and then they went out of there way to type up a letter and explained what a great employee she is. It ended with “she is one to be emulated,” or basically for everyone to follow; she’s that good of a student,” said Mrs. Charlotte Gibson the ICE program instructor.

Some comments Delgado’s supervisor made comparing her to her adult coworkers include:

• she has gone from being the newest member to an ‘A’ member on the most difficult stamping press
• well ahead of her peers
• production is outstanding
• she is the perfect example to emulate
• definitely the future of ASI

Delgado did not think her busy supervisor would take the time to write her a personal letter, and only found out about it when her math teacher congratulated her in the hallway one day. When Mrs. Gibson showed her the letter, “It meant a lot,” she said.

“Honestly, I was surprised,” said Delgado.

The ICE program has helped Delgado get her foot in the door, but it has also has helped her in her day-to-day job. “In this class (ICE) we talk about job safety. (We learn about) different kinds of hazards,” she said.

In ICE, students learn workplace skills like understanding their paycheck and insurance, as well as workplace laws on topics such as sexual harassment and discrimination. Then they head to work for a portion of the school day. The minimum work hours required for ICE students is fifteen per week, but the hours can be done on weekends.

“(ICE) allows students to leave for part of the day and go out and work,” said Gibson.

“This is a senior level class. It’s good because kids can go out and start earning money, and the school also gets vocational money for students who are enrolled.” said Gibson.

In the station she runs at Arvin Sango, Delgado has to be able to identify hazardous materials like hydraulic fluids, or other potential dangers to herself and others, so her experience in ICE has benefitted her in that aspect.

After working there for four months, Delgado has decided to pursue a full time position at Arvin Sango and is graduating early to start working full time in January.

She talked about important skills she had learned through working at Arvin Sango like adapting to whatever situation you are in, working hard everyday, and being open to learning new things.

Delgado was quickly given increasing amounts of responsibility in her job. It was a lot for her to handle, she described, but she took the challenges one day at a time.

“Try to keep a positive attitude and if something doesn’t work out, just say, ‘Okay, it didn’t work out right now, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to work out later,’” she said.

When asked whether she had any advice for others, Delgado said, “Do the best you can, because people always look at that. Hard work and effort pays off eventually. Maybe you don’t see it right now, but it will. It really does. Always try to set goals, whether you’re at work, or school, or wherever”.

Delgado greatly enjoys her job and intends to have a career at Arvin Sango, but says she would love to work at a charity like Salvation Army down the road. Delgado said, “That’s what I want to do. I want to help out people and be a better person.”