Students say yes to dollars, experience

  • Published
  • By Deborah Silliman Wolfe
  • Thunderbolt staff writer
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  These days, high school students need to start thinking about college the minute they hit the 9th grade, according to Sheryl Bush, 56th Services Squadron recreation specialist. 

And the Youth Employment Skills Program offered through the youth center gives teens a chance to get a head start on work experiences that will help round out their college applications. 

"There are so many reasons teens should get involved with the YES Program," Ms. Bush said. "But first and foremost, through the program, teens can acquire work skills. The competition is so stiff for jobs at the moment, anything they can do to give themselves an edge, they should do. This is a great way to accomplish that. The program gives them useable work experience in a career field that they may want to work in later in life." 

Ms. Bush coordinates with a variety of agencies at Luke Air Force Base including the Arts and Craft Center, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, school-age programs, and youth center programs. The agencies fill out a job description form, and Ms. Bush sends the forms to the Air Force Aid Society who heads up the program at the national level. 

Once the job is approved by the AFAS, students can apply for the positions, all of which are located on base. 

Students do not earn a weekly pay check; instead they get $4 per hour for up to 250 hours worked. This money is kept in an account until the students are accepted into college, and then the AFAS transfers the funds directly to their school. Not only do the students benefit, but the youth center receives $2 from the AFAS for every hour YES program students work. That money goes directly back in the center's teen programs. 

But why would teens want to work for $4 an hour instead of working for $7.25 at a fast food restaurant? 

"When someone is 16, their opportunities for employment are so limited," Ms. Bush said. "And while that type of employment can lead somewhere, it may not be what they really want to do so they work their job halfheartedly. But if they have the opportunity to actually get exposure to a career field they are truly interested in, that makes a difference." 

If students show interest in a certain career field, Ms. Bush said she can try to customize a job that fits their interests. 

High school sophomore Ashley Teixeira, 16, has always had an interest in art and working with her hands, so Ms. Bush helped set her up with a job at the arts and craft center. 

"I help frame and mat projects and help customers," said Ms. Teixeira. "I mainly work there in the summers, about five hours every weekday. I think the program is good, it gives you experience and it's not boring. It's much better than just sitting at home -- I like to be productive." 

The program is exclusively for Air Force dependent children, and they have to be attending school full-time in grades 9 through 12. Teens can register at any time, but have to reregister each year in May to be eligible for the next cycle, which runs June 1 through May 31. 

"Teens can work as hard as they want for whatever length of time they wish," Ms. Bush said. "Getting into college is not as easy as it used to be. I hate to see kids handicapped by not having the skills and tools in hand when the day comes to step into the real world. 

Our job at the youth center is to try to prepare them for when they walk across the stage in 12th grade and into the world. That is not the time to get ready. Now is the time, and we want to make sure their lamp is full with oil, so to speak, by the time an opportunity presents itself. The YES program will help them get to where they want to be."