Area employers are enlisting summer help from a group of people with extra time on their hands: students.
More than 140 students applied for 24 positions in a summer work project sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Columbus” version of the program, which is being implemented in towns and counties across the state, gives jobs to youths from the ages of 16 to 24. The city conducted a casual interview process, considering factors such as family income and enrollment in school.
“We had them standing around the walls,” said Pat Mitchell, the city”s human resources director. “There were so many of them that came in need of employment.”
The program is just as much an educational experience for the students as it is a labor benefit for the city.
“We teach them life skills,” Mitchell said. “We go to different factories. This year, I may teach them how to complete an application, and some of them may get an opportunity to work in the office.”
For the most part, though, manual labor is the name of the game. The new workers are focusing on beautification projects around town, and their next task will be planting trees along Highway 82 as it enters town from the east. The students work in the morning, before the heat of the day, and have the opportunity to choose between three five-hour shifts: 6-11 a.m., 7 a.m.-noon or 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
“We”re trying to teach them skills they can use for the rest of their lives,” Mitchell said.
Some of the 116 students, who applied but didn”t get a job with the city, might have found employment elsewhere, like at the Slip ”N” Dip water park on Lake Lowndes Road, southeast of Columbus in the New Hope area.
“Most of my lifeguards are high school and college students,” said owner Sammy Fondren, who is also the Lowndes County fire coordinator. “They learn patience. They”re dealing with the public, which takes a level of dedication.”
Fondren said his workers learn an element of seriousness because it”s a job where lives are at stake.
Teens also are volunteering and participating in activities at the YMCA”s Y-Teens program, said department director Yolonda Troupe-Williams. She mentioned two programs — one about healthy dating and the other about money management — that aim to teach kids how to be mentally, spiritually and physically healthy over the summer. Troupe-Williams said she deals with a lot of high-achieving volunteers.
“They”re looking at the benefits down the road of having a section on their resumé that says they”ve been doing service for the community,” she said, noting volunteering at the YMCA is better than some alternatives.
“If teens don”t have a job, they”re home watching a lot of TV and eating a lot of junk food,” she said. “We”re trying to come up with more and more programs for teens to get healthy together.”
High school students also are working at another YMCA institution: Camp Pratt, a summer camp for children age 6 to 12.
“Most of the students we employee (as counselors) are usually seniors,” said director Monica Pennington. However, the camp also offers a Leader-In-Training program for freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
“They”re young, and they”re fun, and there”s definitely a positive-energy aspect to it,” Pennington said. “They can be counselors, but they can still be child-like, not childish.”
Pennington said she tries to impart lessons to her employees, too.
“Many times, it”s their very first interview,” she said. “It”s a lot of fun for me because I feel like I get to help start developing them for the business world.”
Pennington said a lot of students don”t get the opportunity to learn the leadership skills Camp Pratt tries to teach.
“I think every teenager is different,” Pennington said. “There are a lot of kids that stay at home. In some ways it”s beneficial, but in some ways it”s not because they need to be out in the community.”
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