Mayor's Summer Jobs Program/High Street Discovery Center

by Madeline Smith Moore

This year, the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program nearly doubled its previous capacity. Working in collaboration with several nonprofit youth employment organizations such as the Youth Employment Partnership, Leadership Excellence, Youth Uprising, and Scotlan Youth Center, the program worked hard to achieve Mayor Ron Dellums' goal of expanding its capacity in an effort to substantially increase employment opportunities for youth.

The Summer Jobs Program takes in high school age Oakland youth through the above nonprofit organizations, which are located in several Oakland neighborhoods. The program places them in training positions in the field of the youth's career interest. These are usually in public agencies and local nonprofits. Besides giving these teenagers some much needed job experience, the program provides a situation in which they can act as positive role models for younger children. This past summer 205 interns were hired, 98 more than in 2006. Of the 205 hired, 192 successfully completed the eight-week program.

Numerous local businesses contribute to the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program. In most cases, the youth involved are paid by the Program for the eight weeks they work at the agency where they are placed. After that, if they have done a good job, the institution may choose to keep them on long term. Donte Hooker, a 1999 graduate, interned at American President Lines and is now in a management position there.'So profoundly has his life been affected by the experience that he volunteers with the Mayor's Program and "is anxious to contribute fresh ideas" to make it even more effective.'

Rich Bolecek, Director of the Oakland Discovery Centers on High St. at Brookdale Park and in West Oakland, says he is fortunate to have two hard-working Summer Jobs Program teenagers placed at the High St. Center. Alejandra Ramirez taught art and Frank Williams taught woodshop throughout the summer. Frank is now seventeen years old and originally learned the woodshop and science projects as a child at the West Oakland Discovery Center.

I visited the High St. Discovery Center one afternoon and was overwhelmed with the extent of ongoing projects. Rich says an average of 35 neighborhood children visit the Center daily. They visit for a number of reasons: their parents are at work, they are bored and, best of all, they enjoy this ordered chaos. Every inch of space at the Center is used constructively. A large aquarium brightens the kitchen window, and the children learn how to feed and care for the fish. Children feed the animals in pens, and the animal droppings are composted to fertilize the three vegetable gardens in the back yard. There is a busy woodworking shop, and an adult volunteer supervises a pottery shop complete with wheel.

Each month a different field of science is examined. In November they are doing Meteorology, when they will learn about precipitation and make a solar still. There is a project called "kitchen chemistry" because experiments use materials found in every kitchen such as baking soda, salt, and vinegar. They even ran and have plans to continue an informal and thriving bicycle repair program.

Rich has taken his youngsters outside of the Center to participate in community activities such as cleaning up Courtland Creek. They have also taken part in Bay cleanup and Earth Day cleanup. Once more this year they plan to decorate boxes for the Melrose High Hopes NCPC Thanksgiving food distribution.

If you have or know of a child over six years old with an affinity for science projects, or if you would like to help this important local resource for youth by donating a computer, scrap wood, or other supplies, call Rich Bolecek at 535-5657.

Madeline Smith Moore can be reached at mm0061\@pacbell.net.'