GREENFIELD — A regional youth jobs program has received state recognition, by being selected as “2017 Youth Program of the Year” at this year’s Massachusetts Jobs and Workforce Summit in Devens.
Jobs and Beyond, a collaborative between Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board and Community Action, helps match youth in Montague, Orange and Ware with jobs in the area. The program, which started in 2016, is free to employers. Students are paid $10 per hour through a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
It’s overseen by Donna DuSell of the job board and Holly Kosisky from Community Action, “one of only 11 U.S. Department of Labor ‘Career Pathways for Youth’ projects in the country,” according to a press statement.
Applicants must be 16 years old or older and entering their junior or senior year of high school. All three participating towns — Montague, Orange, and Ware — were selected because they have “a significant concentration of youth-in-need,” the statement says.
Since last year, Community Action reports “23 youth have been accepted into college to date, 100 have completed internships, and 24 have obtained independent employment, including several who have been hired by their internship sites.”
“Donna and Holly have done a tremendous job reaching out to and making connections with students who have diverse and unique needs,” said Scott Hemlin, co-principal at Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School.
“Their willingness to support our students and staff by connecting them with real-world experiences and opportunities outside the walls of the traditional classroom is truly invaluable,” he said.
For more information on the program visit www.communityaction.us/summer-jobs-beyond.html. Anyone interested in applying for employment should call Kosisky at 413-774-7028, ext. 792, to see if they’re eligible. Employers who might want to host an intern should follow the link provided.