Ben Goes To Work
“I want a summer job”. Five words I never thought I would hear out of my youngest son. But thanks to my efforts in getting all the paperwork in on time, he worked for the city this summer. I’d heard from plenty of parents that the city jobs were about showing up, standing around and do nothing, but I still thought it would be good for him to get out of the house and away from video games. He was assigned to Youth Organics, a group I’d never heard of in an area I wasn’t thrilled with, but every Monday through Thursday he’d go off to work on his bike. In the past Ben has been a quitter about doing things he didn’t like, and it was an attitude I hoped wouldn’t show up this summer, but this was the first time money was the goal and that seemed to be the key. At almost 15, he needed to learn about working and being responsible. Okay, so maybe he didn’t learn about working hard, but he did go to work every day.
Complain all you want about Albany and Mayor Jennings, and I do, but this is a good program and I’m glad it has continued despite the yearly budget crunch. It gets kids off the street and hopefully doing something productive with their time. Approximately 1500 kids got jobs for six weeks this summer. That’s 1500 kids doing something other than staying up all night, sleeping in, playing video games and hanging out.
Four days a week, Ben reports to the Youth Organic garden plot on the corner of Third Ave and South Hawk where Rana Morris directs the 17 teenagers assigned to the program. Two days a week, they work the plot and harvest vegetables. Some of the food grown goes to the South End Farmer’s Market for sale. The other two days they take field trips to working farms, learn about nutrition and even go to the governor’s mansion to learn about cooking with fresh, healthy ingredients from the mansion chef.
Being a Mother, I couldn’t help but ask questions and sometimes he even answered them. His favorite activities always included food. When they visited the dairy farm, I heard about the cookies and milk. Harvesting herbs lead to discussion on pizza made with the herbs. When he visited the mansion, I wanted to hear about how it was decorated and who he met, but instead he talked about making alfredo.
Today was his last day and his first job was a success. He learned a little, made new friends, ate a lot, did some work, got dirty and earned some spending money. God bless Rana for dealing with 17 teenagers, I couldn’t do it and thank you Albany for keeping a vital program for kids going.
Complain all you want about Albany and Mayor Jennings, and I do, but this is a good program and I’m glad it has continued despite the yearly budget crunch. It gets kids off the street and hopefully doing something productive with their time. Approximately 1500 kids got jobs for six weeks this summer. That’s 1500 kids doing something other than staying up all night, sleeping in, playing video games and hanging out.
Four days a week, Ben reports to the Youth Organic garden plot on the corner of Third Ave and South Hawk where Rana Morris directs the 17 teenagers assigned to the program. Two days a week, they work the plot and harvest vegetables. Some of the food grown goes to the South End Farmer’s Market for sale. The other two days they take field trips to working farms, learn about nutrition and even go to the governor’s mansion to learn about cooking with fresh, healthy ingredients from the mansion chef.
Being a Mother, I couldn’t help but ask questions and sometimes he even answered them. His favorite activities always included food. When they visited the dairy farm, I heard about the cookies and milk. Harvesting herbs lead to discussion on pizza made with the herbs. When he visited the mansion, I wanted to hear about how it was decorated and who he met, but instead he talked about making alfredo.
Today was his last day and his first job was a success. He learned a little, made new friends, ate a lot, did some work, got dirty and earned some spending money. God bless Rana for dealing with 17 teenagers, I couldn’t do it and thank you Albany for keeping a vital program for kids going.
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