The Summer Job, An American Tradition, Proves Elusive In 2010

By Nancy K. Crevier

Summer jobs for youth are more than just a way to fill in the hours normally occupied by schoolwork, said several notable Newtowners. A summer job can provide experience in a field of interest, teach new skills, spark a career, or determine what is not a desirable career path, said Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra, Newtown Congregational Church minister Reverend Matt Crebbin, Newtown Youth & Family Services Director Beth Agen, and Planning and Land Use Deputy Director Rob Sibley.

“The summer job that stands out for me — several summers, actually — were the ones that I worked as a tobacco picker,” said Mrs Llodra. “I was 13 or 14 years old that first summer, and we were bused from Springfield, Mass., near where I grew up, to Enfield, Conn. I think it was a watershed summer for me. I learned I had a capacity for hard work, even though I already worked on our farm, and I learned that it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I think that it communicated to me to be prepared for other kinds of work,” she said.

In retrospect, she admires the wisdom of her father, who had never completed higher education. “There was probably some purpose in my dad’s ‘hiring’ my three siblings and myself out for that work. He believed work should be pleasurable for mind and body, so I think there was method to his madness,” she reflected. “All four of us took that lesson seriously, got good educations, and went on to professional careers,” said Mrs Llodra.

Knowing that she had successfully worked long, hard hours during those hot summers in the tobacco field enabled her to put in long hours in her adult careers, she said. “What I do now, as first selectman, requires a lot of energy,” she pointed out.

Ms Agen also learned what she did not want to do the remainder of her life, with her first summer job. “It was cleaning hotel rooms, and now I’m very careful not to make a mess of any hotel room in which I stay,” she laughed. “My favorite summer job, though, was one I kept all through college. I was the receptionist at a motorcycle dealership. I learned to type there, and that’s a skill I’ve never regretted learning. I also learned there to have a sense of humor at work,” Ms Agen said.

Just before he started college, Rev Crebbin spent the summer working for a contractor. “The first day it was 100 degrees above, and I had to dig big post holes by hand. It was really hot and I thought of quitting, but I didn’t. What I learned was that I didn’t want to dig post holes the rest of my life, so maybe I should make sure I studied real hard in school and got a good education,” he recalled.

That summer, and following summers when he continued working for contractors, he learned many useful skills that he has utilized in his adult life, said Rev Crebbin.

Mr Sibley learned from his summer jobs what career path he wanted. “When I was 14 or 15, my involvement with Habitat for Humanity shaped my social outlook and carried over into my professional career,” said Mr Sibley. “Habitat for Humanity was pretty new then. We worked mostly in the Bridgeport area, and it showed me you can’t judge a person by what appears on the surface. I grew to love my work with Habitat, and knowing I could make a difference in my community, even one percent at a time,” he said.

Mr Sibley also worked summers as a camp counselor, and both experiences prepared him for his adult career. “The skills I learned definitely carried over into my job here, where I’m involved with the public every day,” said Mr Sibley.

A Challenging Summer In 2010

As valuable as a summer job can be, the summer of 2010 has been a challenging one for students hoping for full-time employment, though, said Ms Agen. “Primarily, our experience at NYFS this summer has been that regular, steady jobs for young people aren’t available. Kids are doing more yard work and babysitting — ‘one time’ jobs. There are absolutely less jobs for teens this summer,” said the NYFS director. Another trend observed at NYFS this summer is that of college-aged youth dropping by the office to find out if they can get back into the NYFS job bank. “Our job bank is only for kids up to age 18, so we can’t help them,” said Ms Agen.

An ongoing youth survey by the NYFS asks about part-time employment. “So far, we show that 43 percent of those responding have a part-time job, and 57 percent do not,” Ms Agen said. “My gut instinct is that it is a much higher number, however, of kids who do not have any part-time employment,” she added.

She has no statistics for Newtown youth, said Mrs Llodra, but through the eyes of her 18-year-old granddaughter, she has the sense that this summer is more difficult for teens trying to find full-time employment. “She has to put together a patchwork of jobs. I think there are not only fewer jobs for teens available right now, but the college kids are competing for those jobs normally reserved for high schoolers. There is a lot of competition and there seem to be fewer opportunities,” Mrs Llodra observed.

Rev Crebbin said that in dealing with the youth of Newtown Congregational Church, he gets the sense that for teenagers who are seeking their first job, the job market is tough this summer. “From what I hear,” said Rev Crebbin, “more of them are stringing together smaller, odd jobs.” Older teens who may have been thinking about going into other fields are hanging onto jobs from previous summers, thus making fewer of those positions available to newcomers in the job market, are the anecdotes he has heard this summer, said the pastor.

That is true at the Big Y on Queen Street, where fresh food division manager Rick Spitze said that they are fine with their labor needs, because many young adults who have worked with them through high school return to work there for the summers during college years. “We have a great group of young adults that have been with us a long time,” said Mr Spitze.

At Caraluzzi’s Newtown Market on Queen Street, manager Mark Caraluzzi said that while they did find there were a lot more teens applying for jobs this spring, because the store is still growing they were able to hire about 30 new workers for the summer. “The high school was very instrumental in preparing the students,” he said. “The kids were much more professional than in the past.”

Changes at The Villages at Lexington Garden on Church Hill Road, a longtime employer of Newtown youth, meant that there were no new hires this spring. “We took back our college kids who had worked for us as high school students,” said Donna Plude, the office manager. “A lot more kids were applying than we could hire, and they told us it was very difficult finding jobs this summer,” she said.

My Place was able to hire quite a few students who applied, said co-owner Louise Tambascio, but many more students applied this spring than was usual. “We do prefer to hire high school students. That way we know we will have them for at least a couple of years after training,” she said. “But,” she reiterated, “there were a lot more applications than we could hire.”

There is still much to be learned from even the day-to-day summer jobs, though, said most employers, and Newtown youth willing to be patient and continue applying could find employment as summer winds down. “We’re always looking for talent,” said Mr Spitze. “And we are apt to do more hiring in the fall when our college kids go back to school.”