But on the contrary, youth in San Benito County are making a change.
On February 19, 2013 over 15 youth attended a Brainstorming Meeting at Mars Hill Coffee House, hosted by the Youth Employment Program (YEP) Council. Youth shared ideas with the YEP Council members on what they felt were important issues to youth. Discussed was how youth could help organize an event to bring teens and business professionals together so employers could share there career pather in order for teens to learn more about what career, vocational & educational options are available to them.
Brainstorming ideas were then presented to the YEP Council. Youth discussed having employers in various professions compete against one another in a fun & informative way and the youth would judge who gave the best presentation, but more importantly, youth would learn about career options in a way that was engaging and informative, but not the typical boring “board meeting” format in which it is presented.
Other ideas included surveying youth to find out what they are interested in and having workers from those professions share what they love about their job and why they started working in that field.
Youth were eager to share ideas and no one felt left out as all ideas were considered.
The YEP Council was briefed at their regular meeting on March 19, 2013. YEP Council members were very impressed with what had been accomplished in such a short time. After discussing the ideas, the YEP Council made the decision to have youth counselors, Acela Reyes & Sandra Romero, attend the upcoming Career Day at the High School. As a starting point, they conducted a survey to find out what types of jobs young people might be interested in.
At the San Benito High School Career Fair 200 youth completed the surevey. They were told to select their top 5 careers in the areas of:
Trade School
College, or
Entry Level
Other
Youth & mentors will be meeting again May 10, 2013 to discuss their next steps.
To find out how you can get involved contact:
Acela at (831) 637-JOBS
or e-mail her at acelareyes@cosb.us
All Youth Employment Program (YEP) Council meetings are held at 3:15 pm at the High School in room 327 on the 3rd Tuesday of the following months: Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov
Everyone is welcome and we are currently seeking board members! for application please visit:
www.sbcjobs.org