By Gretchen Webster

With summer around the corner, a job bank for all for all Westport teens no matter where they go to school has been upgraded by the Westport Youth Commission to help area employers find workers and teens to find jobs.

Jake Shufro, a Staples High School junior and the secretary of the Westport Youth Commission, proposed creating a teen job board last year.

According to both the teens and the adult mentors who have worked together in the last year to create it, so far it has been a success.

“It’s a win-win-win: It benefits students, benefits employers, benefits the community,” said Jake Shufro, a junior at Staples High School and secretary of the Westport Youth Commission, who initially proposed the idea last year. “By just posting a job – you can help your community,” he said.

The Westport Student Job Bank has new software, approved by the Board of Selectwomen in March, to make the job-hunting process smoother and easier both for job-seeking teens and employers, and has been relaunched at https://westportyouthcommission.org/students.

Before the project began, there was a small job bank for students in the Staples High School College and Career Center. But the Youth Commission wanted to build a program that Westport teens attending other schools, as well as Staples students, could use to find work, according to Kevin Godburn, program director for Westport Youth Services.

“I often get requests from businesses looking for students,” Godburn said.

Program provides worker pipeline, head start for teens

One town staff member who knows well the value of hiring teens is Max Robbins, program manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, who hires as many as 200 students in the summer, and about 10 during the school year for various positions.

“Teens do their jobs very well – They have ambition and they’re very reliable,” he said.

The student workers serve as swim and tennis instructors, lifeguards, site supervisors for youth basketball, and also may oversee a gym or facility at night or on the weekends, among other jobs in the department. They include many Staples High School students but also Westport students from other schools and college students returning to town, he said.

“For many of them it is their first job … then they may get to a supervising role. It gives them the confidence and the opportunity to move forward,” Godburn said.

Students on the Youth Commission began to explore how to create a community-wide job bank last year. “The students did a fantastic job looking at what other schools did,” Godburn said, and they ultimately decided on a program used at Greenwich High School, but unfortunately the software company used in Greenwich closed last fall.

Westport Youth Services program director Kevin Godburn said the students on the Youth Commission took the lead on the teen board project with the help of adult mentors.

Software upgrade makes for user-friendly experience

The new software agreement approved by the selectwomen and by Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Lavigne Flug is with Getro Industries, a recruiting company. Resembling professional job boards, the updated student job board is easier to access for employers seeking workers for part-time, seasonal, and internship positions, and for students to find them, Godburn said. And it is free for both students and employers to post there.

He credited the students on the Youth Commission with putting the job bank together. “There was guidance from adult mentors on the Youth Commission … But it’s youth driven,” he said.

Other Westport organizations and business leaders have also helped connect town businesses and teen workers, he said, including Maxxwell Crowley, president of the Westport Downtown Association, which also offers a student discount program, and Matthew Mandell, executive director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce.

“This initiative reflects the [Youth] Commission’s mission to advocate for youth and provide meaningful work experiences that foster personal and professional growth,” Godburn said. “We saw the opportunity for a streamlined, accessible solution that removes the barriers for both young job seekers and local businesses.”

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.