The participants were given certifications from the mayor for completing the program.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — This summer nearly 50 teenagers got their first taste of employment as part of the 11th annual youth works summer program.

 

On Friday, 46 students were honored at City Hall for completing the program that matches youth with employers.

 

Through Berkshire Works and the Berkshire Regional Employment Board, the state allocated $117,000 to create jobs for youth eligible for the program.

 

Each of the 54 who started the program were given work readiness training and then part-time positions with nearly 20 local employers.

 

"All of these employers have made a huge contribution to this program," said Kelly Groves, Berkshire Works Youth Services coordinator.

 

This year, Guardian Life Insurance donated additional money to find three more students jobs. In the 11 years since the program began in Pittsfield, more than 420 teens were found part-time summer jobs that may not have existed otherwise.

 

The money is distributed to programs in cities with high poverty rates and those enrolled need to show economic and other barriers to employment.

 

Now, the teenagers have preparedness training, a job experience and recommendations for their resume, and a better understanding of what it means to be employed. Groves said the students all have "transferable skills" that they can take from one job to their next.

 

"You all have a multitude of skills to add to your resumes," Groves said. 

 

Berkshire Works Executive Director Ken Demers encouraged the students to find their niches and stick with it.

Seven of the 46 who completed the program were even hired by the companies that put them to work this summer through the grant funding. According to Michael Dunn, program coordinator, more and more students are being served by the program because of success stories like that.

 

"We climb every year because of the success you have," he told the students. 

 

He said he sometimes sees former program participants when scouting out work sites. Dorian Hunter went through the program in back-to-back years. Since getting her first job through the program, she went on to earn her general educational development diploma, and then onto a job.

 

"It is all about doing it," she told the graduating class. "It is about getting up even when you don't want to."

 

The jobs are all entry level, ranging from buildings and grounds to food service to clerical. In recent years, those part-time positions have been harder and harder for youth looking for their first work experience to find and get. 

 

"We have to expand this program. We need to ask more organizations to be involved. This is really what is going to set us apart as a community," Mayor Daniel Bianchi said. "We have to find a way for more kids to be involved."

 

Bianchi presented certificates to the graduating class.

 

Ken Demers, Berkshire Works executive director, quoted humorist Josh Billings to sum up the lessons learned from the program. With two separate quotes, Demers said the students need to find their "unique abilities" and use them. And, then "stick with it." 

 

"Each of you have unique skills and abilities. What you need to do with them is use them," Demers said.

 

Again pointing to Billings, Demers said the Lanesborough native was the son and grandson of congressmen but didn't have to follow that path despite expectations. Instead, he became a successful writer. He encouraged the teenagers to find their own niche in the working world and to stick with it to rise in ranks.