On Wednesday, Sep. 27, Westside High School held a job fair that gave students the opportunity to find immediate employment with metro companies.
District Coordinator of Secondary Counseling Rick Painter organized the fair, and said that companies were excited to come to Westside because of the exposure they would receive.
“I invited companies who are hiring immediately for high school students, like Baker’s, McDonald’s, Club 66 and just anybody who would hire 15 year olds,” Painter said. “All the companies are looking for employees, so they were all excited to come out and get in front of over 2000 students all at one time.”
New Cassel Retirement Center Chef Angie Knievel shared the same sentiment, and said that the fair has always been successful for the company.
“Westside has asked us in the past to join [the fair],” Knievel said. “I know [Mr. Painter has] reached out to our marketing department and they kind of forwarded it on. I think this was like my fourth one, so it’s always been successful; I love coming to the job fairs. I’ve had really great success with high school students [from Westside] working as dietary aides in the evening for us. It’s hard to find someone that only wants about 12 hours a week; a lot of the time it’s easier to find [young] people to fill those positions.”
Painter said the fair is in place to show students the opportunities they have in the metro area.
“It’s to show students there are jobs available,” Painter said. “I want the students to see that there are a variety of different companies that are hiring [all around], but here’s some other companies around the district [that are] hiring. I don’t think a lot of people think about going to a retirement home [for work], I don’t even think about that for high school students, but there’s a variety of different jobs that are available.”
Painter said that the high school aims to continue creating opportunities for students, and will hold other events to support them.
“In March we will do a career fair, and for that one we’re just looking for exposure, so to show students the variety of different careers that are out there,” Painter said. “A lot of times students say ‘like okay nurse, doctor, lawyer, but what else is available?’ So we have probably 30 or 40 different employers that come out so that they can see that.”
Painter believes students benefit from having jobs at such a young age because of the financial benefits and character development that occur.
“I think it helps to create good discipline for students’ time management. If you want to save up, maybe you’re trying to buy a car or maybe you’re going to go to college and you have other goals.”
Knievel believes students can gain tangible benefits from working in high school, especially at smaller companies.
“[Students] can learn some job skills and still help us by serving the residents. It’s not like you’re dealing with the public where you get some super mean people that are gonna bring you into the workforce ‘the wrong way’.”
Knievel also appreciates having younger workers at the retirement center because of the social value they bring to the environment.
“Our residents really seem to like the younger kids,” Knievel said. “I don’t know if they relate it more to like their grandkids or just they’re happy to be around these younger kids, but it’s a nice thing.”
