Before the sun crests over the Topa Mountains, OVS junior Will Ponzack is speeding down Reeves Road on his bike, headlight strapped to his helmet, as the Ojai Valley is just starting to wake up.
Most other high school students are asleep at 6:00. But Will is already on the job.
At Java Joe’s coffee shop in downtown Ojai, Will has tied on his apron and is busy taking orders, serving up steamy, foamy lattes and delicious blueberry scones.
Surprisingly, around 20% of OVS students manage their schoolwork, out-of-school responsibilities, and a job.
Since the onset of the pandemic, many adults have not wanted to return to jobs in the service industry, which has provided the opportunity for many young people to become employed. A large number of OVS students have taken advantage of the openings and gone out and gotten jobs.
“Getting my job was the easiest thing I ever have done,” said Nic Jugan, who worked over the summer at a local grocery store. “They were understaffed.”
Students work for different reasons.
“I need to pay for car insurance, my car, and gas, and all the other things I need,” said Junior Zachary Danino, who busses tables at the Ojai Pub. “I use some of my money for dinners and stuff like that, but I just had to pay half my car, which was $2000 and I have $600 insurance every 6 months, which I make in about a month.”
Senior Logan Daily works to make gas money and to add to his savings. Senior Nic Jugan worked to make some spending cash for the summer. And senior Brody Moller wanted to get a head start on saving money for college.
While everyone has different reasons, the availability of jobs has made it easier for high school students at OVS to gain employment.
Though they work, they are students first, and balancing the wide array of commitments in sports, academics, and leadership at OVS with a full or part-time job can be difficult.
“In the last three months of my junior year, juggling work and school was very easy because I didn’t have too much going on and I only worked four days a week,” senior Logan Daily said. “Moving into my senior year, I tried that out and realized I have a lot going on with college applications, our Capstone project that we do here at OVS, and I didn’t have a lot of free time. I felt like I wasn’t able to put my all into my schoolwork, so I, unfortunately, had to put in my two weeks notice recently.”
Nic Jugan also quit his job just before the school year to focus on his studies.
Because of OVS’s long daily schedule, starting at 8 and ending around 5 with mandatory sports, working on any day can be difficult.
The large number of OVS students in the workforce all do it for slightly different reasons, but they all face the same problems. They balance school responsibilities and work, paying for cars, saving for college, and looking for freedom.
“Usually I just work weekends but sometimes I have to work difficult school nights,” Zach Danino explained. “I try to get as much schoolwork as possible done during my school day, so I’ll do homework during classes and free periods. I just try to keep school stuff at school and home stuff at home.”
Will Ponzack, a junior from Virginia, wanted to get a job for a few reasons.
“I think dormers are stuck on campus a lot of the time; although there are weekend trips, it’s like being stuck in a one-mile radius, so it’s nice to be able to get off campus and meet new people,” Will said, explaining one of the reasons that compelled him to get his job. “Before school even started I knew I wanted to have a job while living on campus.”
Setting up this job was a hurdle in itself. Will sent emails to the Head of School months in advance, gave out resumes during town trips, and organized rides into town for his interviews.
“At first they didn’t even want to hire me because I said I can only work weekends,” Will said. But Will got the Job because he has previous experience working as a barista.
Getting to and from work is logistically challenging for Will.
From OVS to Java and Joe, Will bikes 5.4 miles each way.
“It’s all downhill on the way to town so in the sunlight it takes 20 minutes, but I usually go slower because at 5:50 in the morning it’s still dark out,” Will said.
The ride back uphill takes just under an hour, though he has figured out that on Sundays he can take the school van up, as the end of his shift coincides with the school town trip.
Though working and being in school is difficult, it comes with plenty of benefits.
“When your parents give you the money you kind of have to spend it on something specific and you have to give them change,” Zach said. “But with my job, I can do whatever I want with it.”