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Students prepare for future through Youth Employment Skills program

  • Published
  • By Airman Megan Friedl
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  The Youth Employment Skills program offers students from the local community an opportunity to prepare for their future by volunteering.

For every hour that an individual volunteers, they will receive $4 that will go toward a grant for college.

"The goal is to give them opportunities to volunteer within their community to learn skills while doing that and to support their higher education goals," said Kelly Calloway, Youth Center program director.

Students are able to volunteer up to 250 hours, allowing them to save up as much as $1,000. They have all four years of high school to reach 250 hours. The program is very flexible for students who have busy schedules. Many students who participate in multiple sports or activities volunteer between their sport or activities seasons.

The base also receives $2 for every hour the student volunteers. Each student can contribute up to $500. The base is able to receive up to $10,000 total from all of the students who participate. If the base reaches $10,000 the students are still able to receive their full $1,000 if they finish 250 hours.

"I think it's a really good opportunity for the youth to develop skills toward a potential career that they may be interested in," said Calloway. "It also gives them an opportunity to give back to their community and we see obvious benefits from youth participating in community projects throughout the base."

To enroll into the program high school students must be Air Force active duty dependent. They can call the Youth Center and ask for Debbie Stewart, Youth Center teen coordinator, or they can come to the youth center. An application must be filled out and then a job description is developed for the position desired. A supervisor over the position will initial off after they have participated for the number of hours they have finished.

"It's a really organized program with simple requirements that doesn't make it too difficult for youth to take advantage of the opportunity," said Calloway.