Stay Busy Over Summer

As the school year is coming to an end, summer is quickly approaching.  Beginning in less than a month, many students are starting to make summer plans and figure out what they are going to do on their break.  Many students are considering summer jobs. If you are one of those people who doesn’t know where to start, here are some ideas on local summer jobs.

Camp Counselor

A camp counselor will take on many adventures while supervising children of all age groups.  Counselors are leaders and role models for all of the children within their camp. So keep in mind these main skills you will need to be a counselor: you should like kids, have patience, good communication, and problem-solving skills.  This is a perfect job for people that think they may want to work with children or go into education. If you think camp counseling is the job for you, some local camps are Cove Valley, Camp Joy El, Whitetail Adventure Camp, and Mercersburg Academy Adventure Camp.

Restaurant Work

There are many areas in a restaurant that high school students can fill: a host/hostess, waitress/waiter, busser, or dishwasher.  Usually, the host duties include greeting guest and escorting the guest to their tables. As a waitress your job includes taking orders from guests, answering guest questions, and delivering food and beverages.  Busser duties include cleaning off the tables once the guest leaves the restaurant and taking the dishes back to the dishwasher.  The dishwasher’s duty is to clean and put away dishes. Working in a restaurant helps give students valuable communication skills.

“My favorite part of work is the connections I make with my co-workers and the free ice cream I get as a benefit,” said Breanna Dukehart (12) who works at Lizzy’s Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop as a cashier.

Grocery Work

As a stocker at a grocery store, your job would be to stack and organize items on shelves.  A stocker may also work as a cashier for the day, scanning and packaging items. As a cashier, you must possess quick simple math skills to give back correct change. You must also have good communication skills when working with customers.

“I would recommend this line of work to anyone because they are very flexible, have good pay, and it’s easy work,” said Owen Monninger (12).

Lifeguard

Lifeguards have a very serious job monitoring water while keeping people safe and happy.  To be a lifeguard you must be CPR- and AED-certified. As a lifeguard, you gain a lot of responsibility and become a very trusted person.  Lifeguards are depended on to ensure the safety of children and adults at the pool.

“I have learned that confrontation is something that you have to do no matter what even if you don’t want to hurt little kids feelings,” said Sarah Kimmel (11).  

The responsibility involved with lifeguarding means that they must put the safety of others above everything else, even if that means they can’t always be the nice guy.  This is a valuable life lesson because in life everyone isn’t always going to be pleased.

Farm Work

Another popular line of work around this area is farming.  Many high school students learn hard work and responsibility working on a farm over the summer.  Students can do anything from milking to bailing hay during their summer job on a farm. Work could start up to as early as three A.M., so this teaches many students the discipline of getting themselves up and ready on time to milk.

Now that you have some of the most common jobs for high school students, think about which one fits you. Get out there and apply so you can stay busy and get some money during your summer break.