From Pruny Palms to Professionalism 

At twelve, I took a job at a local pizza parlor working as a dishwasher out of desperation and dire need. I was unskilled and underqualified, but willing to work. My family’s only source of income at the time was what I was paid under the table. I spent hours with my hands and arms immersed in huge sinks of boiling water, grease, and bleach. For hours on end, I washed every dish the business had and stayed planted firmly at that sink - my hands remaining pruny for hours after every shift. 

It might not seem like an ideal situation for your average 6th grader, but for me, being away from home was the only time I felt confident and secure. Plus, at the end of the night, employees could take home any leftovers they wanted from the pizza buffet. That was ideal for a 6th grader. I would load up with as much as I could to feed myself, my sister, and my mother for as many days as I thought possible. I lived on breadsticks, both out of necessity and their delicious buttery garlic flavor.

I didn’t know what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to do my job well and stay there as long as I could. Soon, the owner and other adult employees noticed how responsible and trustworthy I was for my age. I had become an exemplary employee in just a few short months. They knew some of what was going on with my home life and looked out for me the best they could. 

At that time, school was a place to escape but not a place where I applied myself. I had never had anyone at home concerned about my grades or what I was learning, and I, too, had become disinterested in my classes. On the other hand, my co-workers at the pizza parlor cared greatly. They knew I had potential and wanted the best for me at work and in life. It was those co-workers who encouraged me to stay in school. They encouraged me to take my strong work ethic and apply it to my schoolwork so that I could have any career I wanted.

While I liked the job, my co-workers, and the endless supply of pizza, I quickly realized this was not what I wanted to do forever. I didn’t want to go home filthy and burned every night. The adults I worked with didn’t want that for me either - not only did they go out of their way to promote education to me but they intentionally took the time to teach me a myriad of soft skills they knew I could use to navigate life. Through my pizza gig, I learned communication, teamwork, adaptability, time management, resilience, patience, attention to detail, and so much more. Due to their efforts, I began to focus more on school, and I finally found solace not only in it as an escape from my home but as a way for me to avoid growing up to be like my parent.

Soft skills, also known as interpersonal or non-cognitive skills, encompass a range of attributes that go beyond technical knowledge and academic qualifications. Employers today seek candidates who not only possess technical expertise but also have strong soft skills. Many jobs require effective communication, teamwork, adaptability, and problem-solving abilities. As the job market becomes more competitive, individuals with well-developed soft skills stand out. These skills can give students a competitive edge in securing employment and advancing their careers.

With this in mind, I decided to focus on how best to infuse soft skills within my traditional classroom lessons. In my classroom, we began to focus on soft skills by:

• Beginning the year with a survey of a variety of soft skills and having students score their aptitude in each. 

• We then focused on each individual soft skill in small chunks through mini-lessons and classroom discussions. 

• At the end of each unit, we would then reassess the specific soft skills we used and see how students felt about their aptitude at that point. 

• The students almost always remarked that they had not only improved in that specific skill but that they also had a better understanding of how that skill pertains to employability. 

• When the school year drew to a close, they took the full survey again and wrote reflections on what they thought had changed most about their skill set. 

• All of them stated that they knew they had grown and many said they felt much more confident pursuing or working a job.

This was just the first year of infusing these skills into my general curriculum. Learning what I have from that experience, I plan to continue to expand on it even further next year. The demands of the modern workforce and the dynamics of today's society emphasize the critical role of soft skills in students' success. 

Developing these skills enhances employability and contributes to personal growth, effective communication, and adaptability in an ever-changing world. Together, we can utilize soft skills education and instruction to ensure our students are prepared for anything they may face. I wouldn’t be where I am today without those invaluable skills. While a pizza career wasn’t in my sights forever, I will always be indebted to the skills I learned in the years I worked there. Even now, I look down at my wrinkly palms occasionally and swear they’re still pruny from those sinks.