THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Most teenagers have more career choices than they know.
A program called ``Black Achievers,'' at the Hunton YMCA in Norfolk, teams black teenagers with 22 black professionals from business, communications, medicine, law, the military and other fields.
As staff writer Angelita Plemmer reported last week, they all gather every other Saturday in small groups, one for each occupational field. Recently, Jerrod Colston, a sophomore at Lake Taylor High School, was part of the communications and media group, intending to improve his speech skills. ``I want to go into business,'' he said, ``and I'm not really good with talking to people. I figured it would probably help me talk to people better.''
``Black Achievers'' started in 1991, funded primarily through the United Way and donations from corporate and community sponsors.
``Teenagers in this community . . . needed this program to focus on careers,'' said Reginald L. Towns, the Hunton YMCA executive director.
It surely is easier to dream of a certain career when you know and are advised by someone successful in that career. A lawyer must seem a mysterious creature to a teenager who doesn't know one. Only a lawyer can stand in front of the teenagers and show them what a lawyer is like. Only a lawyer can answer all the teenagers' questions about a career in law. Just knowing a lawyer can be a key step toward becoming one.
``We're trying,'' Towns said, ``to introduce our kids to positive role models that happen to be black that have made strides in the career of their choice.''
The students in the business and marketing group started a thrift store last year, beginning with $150 and ending with $300 to $400 in profits,'' said Larry Donnell, owner of LLL Food Mart and one of the adult achievers.
``You can't be promised a job tomorrow,'' Donnell said, ``so let's create our own jobs.''
Congratulations to the teenagers who rise on Saturday mornings to begin to make something of themselves and to the adults who give of themselves. The right advice from the right person at the right time can change a young person's life for the better forever. We've seen it happen. by CNB