Books and classes are great for arithmetic and history, but when it comes to learning workplace skills, the best classroom is the workplace itself.

The city of Burbank is one of the few cities in Southern California that has a program specifically designed to place local teens with local businesses so those teens can get hands-on work experience in careers that interest them.

"The good thing is that it helps the student gain valuable on-the-job experience, and it also helps out local businesses because they often need the help," said Brady Griffin, an administrative analyst with the city of Burbank and overseer of all of the city's youth employment programs, including Burbank Employment Student Training (BEST).

Griffin said that the students hired for BEST are "top-notch students who are very goal driven." Before placing the students, Griffin spends as much time as possible with them to determine their career interests.

"Then I try to place them in the best situations within the city of Burbank, which is easy because we have such a wide range of businesses," Griffin said. "Yes, they may end up answering phones and doing simple busy-work, but just getting the exposure to a particular field is so valuable. The student will either fall in love with that career or find out early that it's not what they expected. It's a win-win situation for everybody."

One of the BEST businesses participating will be the Brad Korb office, where a student will be helping with administrative work and getting an inside view of a successful real estate office.

"There wasn't anything like that when I was a kid," said Korb. "What a great opportunity for kids to get real experience working in an office environment. I'm very pleased to participate."

Griffin added that while regular businesses will pay the BEST students' wages themselves, non-profit organizations will be able to participate for free, as students who take on work with them will be paid out of donations to the BEST program.

For more information about BEST, call Griffin at (818) 238-5324.