THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110232
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHAWN M. TERRY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
After 16-year-old Damien R. Long got into trouble last fall, he had two choices.
Go to work or face the judge. Long took the job.
Today the teenager will join 24 other young people to celebrate the end of a five-week summer youth job-training program.
The youths, who range in age from 12 to 17, worked two hours a day at various Norfolk businesses and government agencies, earning from $35 to $60 a week.
Nine of the students, including Long, were sentenced to work. Others applied to participate in the program, run by the Children of the Sun, a 10-year-old educational and athletic program that strives to give inner-city youths a healthy and safe alternative to the streets.
Children of the Sun formed a partnership five months ago with the Chemical Abuse Prevention Through Educational Services program to create the pilot summer-jobs project. The joint effort was proposed by Abdul Aswad of Children of the Sun and Elizabeth I. Lopez, coordinator of CAPES, a Norfolk Community Services Board program based in the juvenile courts.
Long, a rising senior at Norview High School, said he punched a classmate in September because the teenager taunted his girlfriend.
``My options were to complete the summer youth program or go to court and take my chances in front of the judge,'' said Long.
``I said this was a chance to keep my record clean.''
Long ended up working at Inside-Out Consortium, a boutique that sells African-American books, clothing and other merchandise.
``I know I made the best choice,'' he said. ``If I had not worked here, I would not have read four books this summer.''
Long said participating in the program also helped him realize that what he did to get there was wrong.
Sherella M. Rountree, a student who works at the Inside-Out Consortium with Long, said she heard about the job training program two months ago.
Rountree said she had little confidence in dealing with the public before she got the job.
``I learned how difficult it is to have a job, and it is not as easy as it looks,'' Rountree said as she keyed customers' names and addresses into the computerized cash register.
Store owner Wesley Jones said the exposure and experience that the youths receive helps foster their self-esteem.
``Oftentimes, they are not put in situations to help develop such skills,'' Jones said. ``They can dialogue with the customers, and they have to use the monetary system of exchange.
``I'm open to anything that's going to enhance their lives. We need to encourage every opportunity for our children to learn.''
This afternoon, the students and and representatives of the 13 employers that participated in the program will gather at Norfolk Juvenile Court to receive certificates.
Other employers that hired the youths included: Baum & Baum Auto, the Brambleton Public Library, Christian & Christian Printing, the Norfolk Sheriff's Department and Tidewater Pediatric Consultants.
In addition to working, the teenagers participated in activities designed to increase their skills and their understanding of business.
Each day, upon completing their required work hours, the students convened at Lafayette-Winona Middle School to brush up on math or problem-solving skills.
On Wednesdays, the youths were bused to Ruffner Middle School, where they joined about 400 students involved in other summer youth employment programs.
Once there, the students would break into groups of 15 for workshops ranging from ``interviewing techniques'' to ``marketing yourself for the '90s.'' The students participated in mock job interviews, practiced writing resumes and discussed proper work attire.
Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe said programs such as Children of the Sun help build character and teach students to be responsible. McCabe said one of the students who worked in his office said he decided to become a deputy after going through the program.
``I told him you have to be 21 and have a high school diploma,'' McCabe said, ``and he said he'll see me in five years.'' by CNB