With summer having just begun, many college students have returned home and high school students on summer vacation are seeking jobs in and around the towns where they live.

Along with from local businesses, town recreation departments are looking for summer employees.

“This summer, there will be positions for lifeguards, playground counselors and the grounds crew,” said Peterborough Town Administrator Nicole MacStay. “A lot of these jobs are taken up by high school and college students who come back year after year.”

“We offer camp counselor positions and lifeguarding positions,” said Mindy Buxton, New Ipswich’s director of parks and recreation. “We would normally have three camp counselors, but this year we only have two due to less applicants this year.” 

Greenfield experienced some of the same problems as New Ipswich with finding lifeguards. Town Administrator Aaron Patt said “it had been scarce” and the town was “lucky to have two lifeguards last year.” 

Many of the problems Greenfield has been dealing with in terms of finding people started during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of certain programs that gave new lifeguards and returning lifeguards certification, numbers slowly fell.

“The market has been very competitive recently,” Patt said.

Patt also explained that many returning students and younger people in general “come back their first year but later go on to do another job that ranges more in their interests for a career after they finish school. Some will do internships or just take up a new area of work.”

Lisa A. Koziell-Betz, Peterborough’s recreation director, likes to hire high school students.

“By training and grooming the younger workers each year, they begin to work differently each year they return by learning and utilizing a successful work ethic, she said. “It’s great to have the younger generation work for recreation.”

Many of the younger employees show their dedication to town recreation by “coming back year after year, some being four- or five-year-in-a-row returners,” MacStay said. 

However important a role high school students play in town recreation departments, some positions are meant more for college students.

“Positions such as playground program positions or camp counselors are geared more towards college students mostly due to the fact we don't want only high school students in positions of such responsibility,” MacStay said.