When students enter high school, jobs become a prevalent topic. Many high school students have jobs. While not every business employs teenagers, there is a wide variety of jobs that students can have. 

Madison Veal, 10, spent her summer working at the Spring Hill Aquatic Center. Working as a lifeguard shows to be a popular choice among teenagers. 

“Eventually I would like to get a job aside from the pool, but not now. It’s so much easier to work around your schedule with a summer job than a job during the school year,” Veal said. 

Many students work a wide range of jobs throughout high school. Erin Scroggins, 12, has worked at Pop’s Sweet Shop, Price Chopper, does babysitting gigs, and even works concessions at Chiefs games. Scroggins started working at 15 and worked three seasons of Chiefs games. 

“I would recommend someone to be 16 when they try to get a job. At most jobs, their starting age is 16 and you can’t work as much when you’re 15,” Scroggins said.

Not many places hire at 14 which makes it difficult to work during freshman year. However, Cole Gardner, 10, started working in eighth grade when he was 14. He worked at Culvers for about a year before getting hired at Price Chopper in town. 

Parents have a huge impact on students’ decisions to start working. Some parents want their kids to focus on their academics, while others want their students to start saving up for college and getting some work experience. 

“My mom and my dad were all for it. They helped me get to my job because I couldn’t drive yet,” Gardner said.