The Highland Center’s Youth Employment Program Applications Are Available
It’s time to start planning for The Highland Center’s Youth Employment Program. The Youth Employment Program matches students with a variety of workplaces, from non-profits to farms.
Jen Rattigan is the Program Manager at The Highland Center.
“It is basically a program that matches teens, ages 14 through 18, with an employer in the county,” says Ratigan. “The Highland Center subsidizes all the costs of the labor. So it’s a benefit to the local businesses, as well as it is to the kids who get, sometimes, they’re first job or work experience. We also provide educational sessions on professionalism and how to build a resume. It’s a good way to get kids into the flow of having a job and what that involves and some of those skills.”
The Youth Employment Program runs from June 19 through August 26.
“Every student gets the same amount of hours, subsidized by The Highland Center, and minimum wage this year is $12 an hour,” says Ratigan. “So, ten hours a week for ten weeks, but then each worksite could add on hours, but then that would have to be reimbursed to The Highland Center because we only have a certain amount of funds. We are hoping to raise a lot this year, so that we can get every kid who applies matched with a worksite.”
Applications for both the worksites and youth are available now at www.thehighlandcenter.org. Youth applications are also available at the high school.
“It allows kids to have hands-on experience, doing a range of different things, and it’s actually real jobs so they get to know what that’s like and learn from their mistakes this way before entering the world as an adult, an employee,” says Ratigan. “Hopefully it also, just like, gives them a fun experience in the summer to meet new people and earn money and plus the worksites get a lot of new energy too and some subsidized labor, which is always great.”
Worksite applications are due by May 12. Youth applications are due by May 19. For more information, you can call The Highland Center at 540-468-1922.