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# School is out for summer as kids work
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/school-is-out-for-summer-as-kids-work/
- Published: 2007-07-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:14:46.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Students benefit from summer jobs*

CITYWIDE Once the final bell rang signalizing the start of summer break, so began three months of employment at a pet shop for George Bukhin.

While school is out for summer, the three-month break from tests and homework doesn’t necessarily mean time-off from responsibilities, as many Santa Monica High School students find themselves occupied for the summer with jobs and volunteering commitments.

Bukhin is working in customer service at Centinela Feed and Pet Supplies, the second straight summer working at the pet store for the Samohi senior.

The varsity football player has spent the past five summers working or volunteering in some capacity, including helping out at the dog shelter and his mother’s school.

Located on Lincoln Boulevard off Santa Monica Boulevard, the pet store is an employment hot spot for Samohi kids, the management lenient in scheduling work hours for the teenagers.

“All of us are going into the real world and you get a little bit of work experience while you’re still living with your parents,” Bukhin said regarding the benefits of working while in high school. “It’s definitely important to do something while you have something to fall back on.”

While many teenagers are spending their summers working part-time, such opportunities are not readily available to students between the ages of 14 and 16, partly because of strict labor laws and because the jobs are usually already taken by 17 and 18 year olds, said Dr. Randall Hansen, the founder and president of Quintessential Careers, a job search site.

Younger teenagers can find employment in several ways, including tapping into their network of family and friends or building on their entrepreneurial skills and starting their own business, such as tutoring, Hansen suggests.

Regardless, Hansen believes it’s important for teenagers to do something productive over the summer.

“I am a firm believer in the more work experience a teen has — whether digging trenches, being a camp counselor, or working in an office.”

An incoming sophomore at The Archer School in West LA, 15-year-old Brooke Lyon is working at her old summer camp, Rosie’s Girls.

Rosie’s Girls is a summer program in Santa Monica for girls entering sixth, seventh and eighth grades building on self-esteem and leadership skills. Lyon attended the camp when she was in the sixth grade.

“It’s fun but it’s a plus that I am getting paid,” she said.

Whether it’s for employment or participation, camp is a favorite choice for teenagers during the summer, one of the most popular being the LA County Junior Lifeguard program, which runs for five weeks at Tower 8 in Santa Monica.

Open to kids between the ages of 10 and 16 years old, the program familiarizes students with the ocean, providing instruction in swimming and body surfing and physical conditioning. The program also touches students on some of the dangers of the ocean.

Approximately 2,500 kids are enrolled in the program countywide, covering 11 beaches from Zuma to Avalon.

“It’s turned out to be a great program for parents to get their kids involved in the summer time,” said Capt. Terry Harvey of the LA County Fire Department’s junior lifeguard program. “It gives education on ocean conditions and the different environments and what’s in the environment.”

Summer serves as the perfect time for Samohi students to fulfill the community service hours required for graduation.

The Santa Monica Public Library offers a teenage volunteer program where students work in two-hour shifts, lending a helping hand to the children programs including the upcoming “A Day at Hogwarts” event in August to celebrate the Harry Potter series, said Erica Tang, the teen librarian at the library.

Santa Monica High school junior Rose Kenny started her first day volunteering at the library on Friday, hoping to add some hours to her community service commitment.

“I thought this would be a fun way to do it,” Kenny said. “I like the library, I read a lot, and I’m not that great with kids, so I thought I do some tasks around here.”

For some unlucky students, the summer will be spent in the classroom, stuck in the dungeon that is summer school Such is the case for 15-year-old Samohi sophomore Vanika Palmatier, who is spending her summer in the classroom taking an English course.

But the summer isn’t completely lost for Palmatier, who is also going to water polo practice daily and spending her free time with friends.

“They should just leave you alone during the summer, or at least not give you homework,” Palmatier said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 9, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)