District Offers Work Permit Certificates

BY JOE SCOTCHIE
jscotchie@antonmediagroup.com
Summer is zipping by, but there’s still plenty of time for young people in the New Hyde Park area to find summer jobs that allow them to make new friends and most important, some money that will come in handy when college tuition time approaches.
The Sewanhaka Central High School District wants to assist such students in both junior and senior high schools. Students seeking jobs need proof of birth, their parents’ signature, a physical examination and an application from the school district which confirms to employers that they are qualified for summer jobs.
The Career Education Building at the district’s offices on 77 Landau Ave. will supply those working papers. Students can receive an application at that building on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to noon. If they need a physical examination, they can receive that on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 10 and 17, from 9 to 11 a.m., when the school physician will be available. In all, students obtain working permits through a certificate issued by the school district.
“To get a job, they need the paperwork,” said Lori LoRusso, who will be at the district offices on Wednesday and Thursday.
They can look for a job anywhere they want, depending on their age. There is a work certificate for students ages 14 and 15, and another one for students ages 16 and 17.
“The certificate protects students and protects employees,” LoRusso said. “It makes the student legally able to get a job. The student has their parents’ permission and the physical mandates that they are healthy enough to work.”
Students will fill out an application and bring it home for their parents to sign it. If a student has had a physical in the past 12 months, then a new physical is not necessary. But they also need proof of that physical.
In 2009, Village of East Hills resident Ellen Pober Rittberg published a fine primer on the always-mystifying art of parent, 35 Things Your Teen Won’t Tell You, So I Will. The purpose of the book was to offer insights on the challenge of being a parent to children during the rebellious teenage years, including advice on instilling responsibility and discipline to teenagers to help foster a positive parent-child relationship. One of the key elements Rittberg stressed was having teenagers hold down a part-time job, especially a summer job. The benefits are many: Teenagers learn the importance of punching the clock, of learning how to take orders, of learning how to save money; they also learn how to get along and even become friends with co-workers. The Sewanhaka School District is here to help the process along.