Giving Students Employment Opportunities

By Jeff White

With the warmer weather, sunnier days, and blooming gardens and lawns that spring ultimately promises, many around Newtown will begin to seek help getting their properties back up to par after the months of winter.

That is what the Job Bank at Newtown Youth Services hopes, at least, and they are looking for more workers to meet the demand that comes with the months of spring and summer.

The Job Bank is a youth services program for Newtown students ages 13 to 18 that aims to send these students out on jobs around town. Currently almost 160 students participate, and they are divided into sections that coincide with where they live, so they only take jobs in proximity to their homes.

Jessica Clark, a high school senior, has been the Job Bank coordinator for youth services since the beginning of her junior year. She assembles lists of student workers, fields requests for work around town, and assigns a student to a job.

“It creates responsibility and a work ethic,” Jessica says of the Job Bank. “It’s a good way for kids sitting around after school to get a job.”

Jobs run the gamut, from yard work to babysitting. Around springtime, Jessica explains, most people request lawn mowing, leaf raking, and helping out with gardens. Students sweep walkways, pile wood, clean garages, and help out with typical household chores.

Babysitting, says Jessica, remains a popular year round job. Some other jobs that students may go out on might be grocery shopping for an elderly person, or transporting someone’s child to an activity.

Jessica points out that where most retail restaurant jobs require students to be 16 years old, the Job Bank is a good way for younger students to get their first paying jobs.

That is why Newtown High School freshman Kelly Coney got involved with Job Bank. “I was interested in getting a job, but knew that I wasn’t old enough to get a job legally,” recalls the 15-year-old. Kelly says she likes the choices that Job Bank gives students; when you first apply, you are asked to give a list of jobs you would like to perform, so more often than not students are performing jobs they want to carry out.

For Kelly, the job of choice is babysitting, which she does once or twice a week. For a student about to complete her first year of high school, the Job Bank is flexible enough to work around her busy schedule.

“I like it because it allows me to be in control of when I work,” she says. “I like being able to vary when I work and everything and work around my schedule.”

There is no set rate of payment that students receive, though they are paid for all jobs. Jessica says that students can expect from $8 to $10 an hour for yard work, and from $6 to $8 an hour for an average babysitting job.

“[The Job Bank] makes kids feel proud of themselves,” says Jessica. “When you call a new Job Bank member and tell them that you have a job for them, they’re thrilled.”

Youth Services accepts Job Bank applications on a daily basis, and there is a short interview in which a student can outline the types of jobs he or she is interested in.

Interested students are encouraged to get in touch with Jessica Clark at Youth Services.