Getting a job is a milestone for any teenager and a new youth employment initiative in School District 43 is making that dream a reality for many kids.
On Tuesday, the board of education heard how Myra Zwiep and Helen Giesser are getting help in obtaining employment through the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), a program funded by the Vancouver Foundation for students who need extra support.
Both young women will be graduating in a couple of years from Riverside secondary school, where the three-year program is currently housed, and both have learned independence and how to be good employees.
The students, who have developmental disabilities, want to work and have the life most teens desire.
"I like to clean and cook at Hawthorne [Lodge]," said Zwiep, who told school trustees that when she makes seniors happy, she feels happy.
"I want to be a star at work," Zwiep concluded.
Birgit Giesser read a statement saying her daughter, Helen, got work experience at a pizzeria through YEI and is learning how to prepare for, behave at and contribute to a work place.
"She has felt those normal and necessary feelings of anticipation, nervousness, pride and satisfaction most teenagers experience when at their first job."
Rachel le Nobel, employment service co-ordinator for the Simon Fraser Society for Community Living, said YEI bridges the gap in services currently supplied by the school district because it focuses on getting paid employment for graduating students, not just work experience.
Last year, the program worked with students at Heritage Woods, with several students obtaining either part- or full-time employment, and one student entered the ACE-IT Culinary program for work in the food services industry because he learned that he enjoyed baking.
This year, the program is at Riverside but it will move next year to a school in Coquitlam.
"Our dream is for a vibrant, sustainable employment service that gives every student the opportunity to have meaningful, paid employment before they finish high school," le Nobel said.
She said she hopes the school district will find a way to allocate resources so the program can continue when the current funding runs out.
INTERESTED?
Employers interested in participating can call Rachel le Nobel or Emily Macdonald at 604-528-3950 or via email: [email protected] or [email protected].
@dstrandbergTC
