CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Newport News youth gain work experience and more with city-funded program

Daily Press - 8/24/2018

Aug. 24--More than 470 Newport News teens and young adults stepped up to make the most of their summers by learning work skills and more about their own potential by participating in the city's Summer Training and Enrichment Program, speakers said during the closing ceremony Thursday.

"I am in awe because y'all decided to step up, take responsibility for your lives and do what is necessary to get some things done," motivational host Nicole Conaway, 30, told the 500-plus crowd at the Newport News Marriott at City Center. "I'm proud of each and every one of you."

In its fifth year, the 10-week summer program attracted 472 youth and young adult participants and 63 work sites, city spokeswoman Kim Lee said.

STEP is part of the city's youth and gang violence prevention initiative called Building Better Futures and provides paid work experience, field trips, workshops, financial literacy education and GED preparation classes, Lee said. This year's budget was $1.03 million.

Over the past five years, about 1,900 young people worked roughly 300,000 hours and earned more than $2 million in wages, Mayor McKinley Price said. The program started with 160 youth in 2014.

Price said the employers also stepped up, because they didn't judge participants based on their past and got involved in training and mentoring local youth. Price said his first job as a young teen was working with his uncle in a wall plaster business.

"STEP is second chance and an investment in the youth of our community," Price said. "We want to ensure our young citizens have the skills, the knowledge and the confidence they need to succeed and become vital parts of workplaces in Newport News and beyond."

Kaceon Harris, 20, didn't attend but was recognized with the Resilience Award. In a phone interview, he said he worked with the sheriff's office, including sorting papers but also helping with Project Livesaver. He needed to pass a math SOL (Standards of Learning) test to fully graduate from Menchville High School and said he was connected with a tutor along with guidance from his job coach, work supervisor and Sheriff Gabe Morgan.

Harris passed that SOL, learned not to give up on his goals and said he doesn't take his life for granted any more.

"I've been through a lot. This year has been a change for me physically and mentally," Harris said. "Now I can really say, God is real and he's really helping me get to where I want to be. I might take a little while, there might be a little holdup, but I'm going to get there. I got a diploma. I got a job. I connected with people I never would have connected with before."

Trinity Bowens, 16, was recognized as Participant of the Year. Her first job was at a daycare and she said she learned to have more patience in addition to better managing and budgeting her hard-earned money.

Nygeria Gathers, 16, attends Heritage High School and also worked her first job in daycare because she wants to pursue child behavior or development as a major. Sabrina Lee, program director at Amanda's Developmental Child Care Center, said Gathers will be staying on part-time.

Daniel Plott, executive chef of the Holiday Inn Newport News at City Center, said having STEP participants helped him to re-evaluate how best to train and communicate with workers. The hotel opened May 1 after significant renovation and still is hiring.

Participant Deomashei Richardson was recognized as Most Improved and Joshua Gomez was honored with the Inspiration Award, according to the program.

Alfonda Tennessee, a facility manager at Patrick Henry Mall with Service Management Systems Inc., said he can see the participants get more confident in their abilities over time and plans to hire two participants from the program this past summer.

"They're on point," Tennessee said.

Bozick can be reached by phone at 757-247-4741. Sign up for a free weekday business news email at TidewaterBiz.com or follow @TidewaterBiz.

___

(c)2018 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)

Visit the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) at www.dailypress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.