Each morning, Columbus residents may see a cluster of young adults by The Riverwalk, or at Friendship Cemetery, or maybe along a bypass somewhere.
They’ll be picking up trash and leaves and working to improve the community.
The students are part of the Mississippi Department of Transportation/City of Columbus Summer Youth Program, a program providing employment for Columbus residents between the ages of 16 and 24 who are in school.
It is a good opportunity both for the city and the kids, said Travis Jones, project coordinator for the Office of Planning and Communication Development. Jones has overseen the program the last 21 summers.
“When a kid comes up to me (after the program ends) … and reminds me that he worked on the program and that he found success after, it just gives me joy,” Jones said.
Impact of program
The program is paid for by a $35,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation and $20,000 from the city. Participating students are selected in an application and interview process. Around 300 students applied this year, according to Jones.
This year, 25 students, six of whom are in college, where chosen to participate. The students work from 7 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday.
So far the students have picked up around 300 bags of litter from bypasses in and around Columbus; removed about 400 bags of leaves from Friendship Cemetery; and planted 32 crepe myrtles and 20 Magnolia trees.
“I’d never been to the Friendship graveyard,” said Tyshun Clayborn, 17, a rising senior at Columbus High School. “It’s very clean out there.”
He said that there was so little trash in the cemetery that he and the other students mostly picked up leaves. He also enjoyed seeing the different types of stones and said he did not realize headstones could be so tall.
The program overall has helped Clayborn save money, which he plans to use for new parts for his car and tithes at church. But the program has also been a good way for him to get work experience and learn responsibility.
“It taught me to be a man about everything,” he said.
Clayborn is not the only student who appreciates the responsibility the program instills.
Tempest Smith, 16, a rising junior at Columbus High School, said she likes being able to make her own money and not have to rely on her mother for funds.
“You work for what you want,” she said.
Occasionally, the students fill in for absent city employees, answering phones and doing paperwork. Raleighcia James, 19, a biology student at Stillman College, worked at City Hall a little. Her job was primarily to direct phone calls when people called with complaints.
“The best part was when people called back and thanked you for putting in information for them when things got handled,” she said. “So that was really nice.”
Luncheon at Trotter on Aug. 4
Next week, the students will take a break from clean-up and office work and go through the Life Skills section of the program, according to Jones.
“We set them in a classroom for 20 hours and we discuss everything from balancing a checkbook, good credit, bullying in school, anger management, how to prep for job interviews, how to dress for job interviews,” he said.
The students will hear from leaders, pastors and business professionals in the community, Jones added. The life skills are useful for the kids in planning their future.
“(The program) pretty much taught me how to budget money,” said Moejha Calmes, a sophomore at the University of West Alabama.
Calmes is on her university’s women’s basketball team. She is majoring in sports management with a minor in business. She has a scholarship, but the money she makes this summer is going toward her phone bill and other funds.
“It keeps gas in the car,” she said.
“It’s a great program,” she added. “It keeps you out of trouble and keeps you active.”
The program began June 1. It will end with a special luncheon at the Trotter Convention Center on Aug. 4. The students will be able to bring at least one parent or relative to the lunch, and city councilmen, department heads and the mayor will be present.
“(The kids) have done a tremendous job,” Jones said, “they really have.”
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