Students seek summer jobs for skills, funds for their futures
Now that the final bell of the 2023-24 school year has rung, many Highland Lakes students are seeking summer jobs to earn money, learn skills, and even alleviate boredom.
“I’m just hoping to find something to do this summer,” said Marble Falls High School junior Payton Sulak, who was one of over 200 students at the campus’ summer job fair in April.
Top area employers for students such as Sulak include summer camps, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and the hospitality industry, according to data obtained from the Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. The EDC oversees economic growth in the region and works closely with workforce development organizations.
“Our market needs (young) workers, and it’s good for them to work,” said EDC Executive Director Christian Fletcher.
Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gasaway agreed, describing the benefits of a summer job.
“There’s a lot of things kids learn through having jobs that they may not learn in other places, like having a good, strong work ethic, the responsibility of being somewhere on time, and the responsibility of meeting deadlines,” he said. “One thing that I personally notice about kids who have jobs is the maturity they show when handling difficult situations.”
Working can also make life after high school easier for students, Gasaway said.
“I think it makes students more well-rounded when they’re getting into their college experience, or whatever that next step in their life is, to have that background,” he continued.
Fletcher went even further, doubling down on his hope that more students will consider working during high school to obtain valuable skills.
“If it was up to me, I’d love to see every person in high school have some sort of service-related job, regardless of their extracurricular participation,” he said.
Student-workers play a crucial role in the local economy, Fletcher added.
“They’re critical,” he said. “Our market needs those employees because of the level of economic activity we have in our area.”
Specifically, Fletcher would like to see more student-workers in what he described as “low-skill, low-wage” jobs, like operating the register at a fast food restaurant.
“I think that it would help establish some stability in our workforce if the jobs that could be held by young people would be held by young people,” he said.
The school district has a duty to teach its students the basic skills necessary to be successful in a work environment, Gasaway said.
“The last thing that I’d ever want to hear from community members is that, when we send our students out, they’re ill-equipped to do simple tasks like work a cash register,” he said.
MFISD’s Career and Technical Education program teaches those skills. The program’s advisory board consists of over 60 community members and is responsive to the area’s needs.
“We didn’t have a hospitality branch in our CTE program,” he said. “That was something—as you can imagine with the industry of hospitality in our area—that we needed to work on. We now have that as one of the choices for our kids.”
One of the top resources for Marble Falls students actively seeking jobs is the district’s annual student job fair. It started in 2019 and has grown to include diverse industries.
The most recent job fair was April 10.
“We have more and more businesses interested in taking advantage of the job fair as an opportunity to recruit our kiddos,” Gasaway said. “We appreciate their interest in our kids.”
MFHS senior Collin Schilling said the fair is ripe with opportunity.
“I’m looking for something that will help me pay for college,” said Schilling, who will attend Central Texas College in Marble Falls later this year.
He has worked at Wingman Car Wash in Marble Falls for the past three years. The job taught him how to manage money and communicate with others.
It was also a window into the dirty business of cleaning cars.
“I never knew how dirty and careless people could be with their cars,” Schilling laughed. “It’s actually insane. Detailing can be nasty work.”
Horseshoe Bay Resort, which was at the job fair, piqued Schilling’s interest.
“It’s a really cool place to work,” he said. “It seems like a really nice environment.”
Representatives from H-E-B were also at the event.
“It’s a really great opportunity for kids to get their foot in the door,” said H-E-B’s Taylor Gonzales about the job fair.
The grocery store manages about 60 student-employees each year.
“They’re great workers,” Gonzales said. “Most of them really enjoy it.”
The secret to success in employing student help is H-E-B’s flexibility with busy high school schedules.
“If it comes to, ‘Hey, my grades are falling. Please let me change my availability,’ we work with them,” Gonzales said. “School always comes first.”
These success stories speak directly to Gasaway’s personal mission of building functioning adults.
“One of my goals for kids graduating from our high school is that they’re ready to participate in society by getting a job, paying their taxes, voting, and doing the things that make our nation great,” he said.
The superintendent would certainly be proud to hear what junior job-seeker Sulak plans to do with her first paycheck.
“I’m going to save it,” she said with a smile.
Job hunting help
Students looking for jobs can contact Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area offices in Burnet, Marble Falls, and Llano for help identifying employers who are currently hiring.
“We actually operate a summer employment program with funding to help place young people in their first work experience and pay their salary,” said Diane Tackett, chief operations officer for Workforce Solutions RCA.
The program matches young job seekers with employers based on interests and needs.
To find out about summer job opportunities, call or visit one of the following offices:
BURNET
1001 W. Buchanan Drive, Suite 1; 512-756-6769
Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
MARBLE FALLS
Community Resource Center, 1016 Broadway; 844-344-2780
In-person visits only on Mondays from 1:30-3 p.m. Someone is always available by phone from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
LLANO COUNTY
102 W. Dallas St., Suite F; 325-248-0275
Open 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; closed Thursday and Friday.
OTHER RESOURCE
Check out the Marble Falls/Highland Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce’s online job board at business.marblefalls.org/job-postings.