On top of extensive schoolwork, sports and other extracurriculars, many students at Park have jobs outside of school. Popular places of work include fast food restaurants like Chick-fil-A, SLP city programs, Target, and different sports facilities.
Junior Chris Perez Barriga said he works at Chick-fil-A as a trainer. His job entails training new employees on the different job stations and customer service skills.
“I work at Chick-fil-A in Knollwood, here in St. Louis Park—I’ve worked for a little over two years now,” Perez Barriga said. “I am a trainer. So what I do is I show people around in different stations and customer interactions.”
Junior Ethan Yakes said he works at the warming houses at Park. He oversees the building and ensures people can enter and put on their ice skates. He said he is happy with his hourly pay rate because his job is not very demanding.
“I supervise warming houses and allow people to go in there and be able to put their skates on,” Yakes said. “(My pay rate is) hourly, and I think it’s pretty good for the amount of work I do—it’s really good if you have a lot of schoolwork because you can get it done during your shifts.”
Business teacher and school store operations advisor, Abby Lugo, said she got her first job at 13 as a swim instructor to work towards becoming financially independent from her parents. She said the experience of having a job early on taught her the importance of customer service skills.
“I knew that I wanted to be financially independent from my parents, who didn’t make great decisions. I got my first job at 13, by being an assistant swimming lessons teacher, and I’ve had a job ever since,” Lugo said. “(The experiences I gained were) customer service skills, and that’s one of the biggest things that you learn in these big introductory roles.”
Perez Barriga said he thought high school was a good time to start early in making money and gaining valuable experience since he knew working would eventually be his future.
“(What made me decide to get a job was) I felt like I had to start paying for my own things, and (I wanted to) just to go out and get experience, because everyone has to start at some point,” Perez Barriga said. “I figured during high school is a good time to start.”
As an educator to students in business classes, Lugo said there is great importance in getting job experience early on because it introduces you to post-high school life and is a good opportunity to gain essential life skills.
“(I teach a lot of) young entrepreneurs that have their little hustles, and definitely see students that work in and around our community,” Lugo said. “I think anytime you can get a taste of what’s to come after high school or that experience is super beneficial. I think when you have a job, it’s a real unique time to learn how you can critically think, think on your feet, communicate and use problem-solving skills.”
Yakes said the advantages of having a job include the ability to save money for college and gain experience, and some disadvantages include less time to be social.
“(The) pros are you’ll get a lot of good experience and money for college. The cons are you’ll have less time to hang out with friends and do all your social activities,” Yakes said.
Perez Barriga said the advantages of having a job in high school outweigh the disadvantages because you can mature as a leader since having a job forces you to take on more stress and responsibility.
“The biggest advantage is being able to grow yourself and become more of a leader and confident. A disadvantage is definitely less time for social activities and obviously more stress, but I think it’s worth it,” Perez Barriga said.
