Albany officials are celebrating a summer employment program in the city.
The Summer Youth Employment Program is designed for low-income and disadvantaged individuals between 14 and 20. Touring the State Museum — where participants serve as docents — Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the program provides young people with new experiences.
“I want young people to see and meet and talk to people who are doing jobs that often times, nobody even knows about, and they don’t even think about it.”
State Commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Barbara Guinn says she hopes participants come out of the five-week summer session with life skills.
“Definitely hoping that they learn what they like about work, what they don't like about certain jobs. You know, maybe it'll help direct them in terms of the future. They have an opportunity to earn money, which is fantastic.”
The state says more than 20,000 young people will be employed through the program this summer across New York. The effort is supported by $55 million in state funding. Guinn says the program participants tell her they really enjoy the experience.
“Some of them specifically spoke to loving to have the opportunity to teach people about things such as paleontology. There's someone here who is going into a college program soon in that field, which is wonderful. And then others definitely spoke to that they really appreciate the opportunity to interact with the younger children who come through.”
Stephanie Miller is the museum’s Director of Youth Services. She says the museum usually needs between 10 and 12 workers through the program, and most come back. She adds the young people are crowd magnets.
“People are definitely impressed with their body of knowledge, with what they've been taught, because they've been up in the science labs. They've met our state paleontologists. They've met our, you know, state historians. They meet all of the professionals whose laboratories and collections are here in the museum.”
Janahvia Robinson is an Albany High School senior who’s worked at the museum the last three summers. She says the experience has helped her figure out her future.
“I've always known I want to go into the medical field since I was younger. This has really helped me. I know I want to work with people.”
She says kids are confused by the taxidermized animals on display.
“They ask ‘are they real?’ And I tell them yes, and then they ask ‘then, well, are they alive?’ And I tell them no, but then they can't understand why they're not. ‘If they're real, why aren't they alive?’”
Which means, she says, she’s faced serious allegations.
“I was also blamed for personally killing all the animals. I did not.”
She says the specimens on display were found dead in the wild. As for what she hopes she’ll take away from this summer?
“Learning how to deal with different personalities, is what I would say, and learning you have to talk to people- like, with younger kids, you have to break out things more; with older people, older kids, you like, they know what they're doing.”
Vanelia Angullet, a fellow Albany High senior, is another summer program worker. She agrees the program has helped her feel more confident and prepared.
“We do some research first, just in case the kids come and ask you questions. You have to know some of it, but sometimes when you don't know, just say like you don't know.”
As for her favorite things to teach?
“Especially, I love minerals, the rust, the crystals and stuff.”
After her summer session is done, Angullet says she plans to attend Hudson Valley Community College in Troy to study marketing.
In Albany, this year’s programming ends August 9th. Statewide, summer youth employment programs are run on the county level.
