According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In October 2023, the proportion of the population that was employed (the employment–population ratio), was 51.7 percent for people 16 to 24 years of age.”
Nowaday, teenagers are getting jobs while they are in high school so they can make some extra money. At Wayne Valley High School, many students have an afterschool job and even more have a summer job.
Junior Alex Farina works as a lifeguard over the summer while also being on a swim team. So she had to manage her schedule with those. Alex plans on doing both of these until she graduates high school.
Junior Mia Taylor goes to work straight after school. When asked how she manages her schoolwork and homework, this was her answer. “I just finish school work and homework in school and then I go to work.” Mia says that having a job affected her in a positive way. “It made me more capable of doing more stuff on my own.” Mia plans on continuing to do her job for the remainder of highschool, since it has affected her in a positive way.
Wayne Valley High School actually started hosting job fairs. Counselor William Cheval explains, “This past job fair was our 8th job fair. I wanted to do these job fairs to bring the businesses to the students so they could have a one stop shop to apply to different jobs and to see what jobs are out there that they might like to do.”
In fact, two job fairs will be held this year, one in the fall and one in the spring. According to the guidance department, the fall job fair tends to have local retailers that are hiring for seasonal jobs for the holidays, as well as permanent part time jobs. “This past job fair we had retailers like Starbucks, J. Crew, Goldfish Swim School, Paper Store amongst others,” Cheval said. He goes on to say that this year “…about 500 students walked through the job fair to look at what businesses were there.”
In the spring, the school will invite local camps and other jobs that would hire students for summer positions like counselors, and lifeguards.
Having a job as a high school student can be a good idea, if you have extra time. Both of these students and this article are examples of this.
