Natasha Cross, an activist who works with students on entrepreneurship, gets the crowd involved during her speech Monday at the start of the YouthWorks program at Morgan State University. The program pairs teenagers with minimum-wage summer employment. – Rachel Fus/The Examiner

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
2008-06-10 07:00:00.0
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Kia Curry filled out several job applications but no one called her for an interview, killing her dreams of saving money for a car.

At 15, Kia knows her lack of work experience doesn’t help.

But this summer, she’ll be raking in the money.

She’s one of 6,800 Baltimore teens who will get minimum-wage summer jobs through YouthWorks, a 16-year-old city program that celebrated its largest number of participants this year.

Hundreds of teenagers gathered Monday at Morgan State University for the start of the program, which pairs kids with jobs in hospitals, government offices, nonprofits, retailers, churches, colleges and restaurants.

The young job seekers, ages 14 to 21, will learn their six-week, 30-hour positions before starting June 23.

Brothers Antwan Bolden, 15, and Anthony, 17, want to work so their grandmother won’t have to buy them shorts and school clothes.

Jerad Jenkins, 17, has worked the past two summers in the city’s departments of transportation and sanitation, washing trucks and picking up trash. He hopes to land another summer job at one of the two agencies so he can help with house repairs and school expenses.

“I have to help my mother out,” he said.

Business professionals and Mayor Sheila Dixon told students Monday to learn from their jobs, parlay them into part-time, year-round positions and to use them to make contacts.

“Don’t take this experience for granted or just take it for a paycheck and extra money,” Dixon said.

“Look at this as an opportunity to decide what you want to do in life.”

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com