Summer Program Helps Teens Prepare for Careers

By Christine McCluskey
Journal Inquirer
Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:04 PM EDT

MANCHESTER — The aisle in the Lincoln Center Hearing Room became a fashion runway for a few minutes this week as teenagers in a
town-sponsored summer program showed off the outfits they may one day wear in different careers.

From a hairdresser’s apron to a surgeon’s scrubs, students researched the ways people in various professions dress as well as the training
they go through before donning those clothes.

Several adults, including firefighters, a librarian, and a real estate agent, also helped out by modeling what they wear to work.

The summer program, which is sponsored by the town, Capital Workforce Partners, and the Capitol Region Education Council, includes 50 high school students divided into three groups. The students earn the minimum wage as they work in the program.

One group went through on-site employment training at various businesses in town, as well as at MARC Inc. and Manchester Community College. Two of the 20 students in that group have been offered regular part-time employment at their sites after the program ends, said Jennifer Wilder-Jackson, youth service coordinator at the town’s Youth Service Bureau.

The other two groups of 15 students each worked on projects together as they learned about various career paths. One group organized the career fashion show, while the other published a magazine about the different careers they want to pursue, from architect to electrician to wedding planner.

Jazmyn Minion, who will be a junior at Manchester High School this year, modeled a hairdresser’s apron in this week’s show. She said that after a social worker visited the program this summer, she reconsidered her career options.

“I really enjoyed what I heard about helping children,” Minion said. “I realized that I wanted to be a social worker as well as a hairdresser.”

Angel Quintana, who is interested in a career in archeology, pottery, or marine biology and is also going into his junior year at MHS, was the master of ceremonies for the fashion show. He said he got involved in order to learn how to write a resume, look for a job effectively, and speak more confidently in front of people. “I learned to work under pressure,” said fellow MHS junior Viviana Diaz, who walked down the runway in surgeon’s scrubs.

Alicia Akers, one of the three grant-funded summer youth employment coordinators for the program, said students get a lot of information about not only the careers they’re interested in, but the steps they need to take to get there.

The goal is to tell them that “there are things you can do today to influence your tomorrow,” Akers said.

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