As high school students, many of us know that a first job experience is always interesting. We may enjoy our time there, and sometimes we have to leave. However, we never stop to think that our teachers had a first job that was not teaching. 

For Fredericksburg High School teachers, Coach Stafford, freshman geography teacher and football coach, and Mrs. Weldon, culinary teacher, their first job experience was not any different than an ordinary job.

“My first job was a dishwasher at a restaurant,” Stafford said. “I worked there maybe a year and a half.” 

Stafford, like many, liked his job. He worked with the people he loved and certainly enjoyed the pay. 

“[My favorite part of the job] making money, making bank,” Stafford said. “I think I got paid $1.25 an hour.”

After leaving the restaurant, Stafford went to work as a lifeguard throughout high school, and when he graduated, he joined the military in 1985 and left in 2013. He then went into teaching and coaching, now teaching geography and coaching the football team.

“Well of course I do [enjoy my job now],” Stafford said. “ Watching y’all grow up.”

For Weldon, her first job experience was not any different.

“I worked at a cutting barn [when I was] fifteen,” Weldon said. “I was a looper and I cleaned stalls.”

Unlike Stafford, Weldon was not the biggest fan of the job.

“It wasn’t bad,” Weldon said. “It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t terrible either.”

Weldon proceeded to work there for the rest of her summer but had to leave because of the pay. Her dad was also not the biggest fan of how much they paid his daughter.

“My dad threatened to beat them up because they didn’t pay me right,” Weldon said laughing. “That’s probably one of my favorite dad stories.”

After graduating from high school Weldon went to Vernon Junior College, Weatherford Junior College, and Charleston State University, to then become a teacher at Fredericksburg High School, where she now teaches all the culinary arts classes, from intro to advanced. 

“Don’t be so close minded,” Weldon said about getting a first job. “You’re going to have to shop around and see what is good for you.”