Blytheville summer youth program declared successful

Blytheville Mayor Melisa Logan said the city of Blytheville’s summer youth employment program proved to be an amazing educational and job training experience for local youth, community and stakeholders.

“During the 2024 summer tenure, we were able to employ 25 youth employees at various locations within the city limits,” Mayor Logan said. “These various worksites provided our youth with a diverse range of opportunities that lended itself to the activation of possible exploration of educational and career paths.”

The mission was “Learning, While Earning.” This opportunity provided the youth with real-world application all while learning and earning, the ultimate goal.

Mayor Logan said the City of Blytheville embarked on this journey by diligently advertising via social media platforms, local agencies and word of mouth. This resulted in an overflow of youth vying to become one of the chosen candidates.

Facilitators of the program began the application process mid-May. Applicants were required to submit their most recent grade reports and engage in a brief interview prior to being selected. No youth was penalized for unfavorable grades. The grade reports were utilized to gauge strengths and weaknesses.

Chosen applicants were required to attend a mandatory Beginning of Program orientation which took place on Monday, June 10, at Arkansas Northeastern College. To foster a professional work environment, applicants were required to dress professionally. During this orientation, the youth were addressed by prominent members of the community to make deposits of hope and life-long sustaining knowledge and skills. During this session, they were educated on professionalism, financial literacy, customer service, communication skills, teamwork, problem solving/conflict resolution and employability skills. In an effort to gain a depiction of the youth’s current reality, they were required to engage in a pre-assessment prior to reporting to their assigned worksites. The pre-assessment consisted of skills/abilities such as quality of work, conflict resolution, current skills and qualifications, goal setting, communication skills, teamwork ability/relationship with others, motivation, problem solving skills, ability to take initiative, self-management, learning/comprehensive ability, technological skills and reliability/dependability.

The youth began reporting to their assigned worksites on Tuesday, June 11, with an allowance of working 20 hours per week at $12/hour. Many provided testimonials of excitement aligned to their work experience and the knowledge gained. Several reported the reality aligned to the enhancement in their communication and professionalism skills and abilities, while others were in awe of the requirements aligned to the reality of the workforce.

Several employers expressed their amazement in the work ethics and value of the youth assigned to them.

“As a result, these employers strongly expressed a great desire for continued employment for some of the youth at their company/organization even after the city’s six week program concluded,” Mayor Logan said.

Youth employees reported back to ANC on Friday, July 12, for the end of program orientation. During this time youth employees were addressed by prominent community members in which they could relate to and provide a verbal testimony of their experience in the COB Youth program for the five weeks they had worked. The students were given a tour of the Allied Technologies building at ANC and engaged in a welding course. Some watched and others actually engaged in a welding hands-on experience. Many were surprised by the salary amounts aligned to the different technical programs/career fields.

During the end of the program session, the presenters spoke to the youth about setting goals, having a positive mindset, being willing to adjust and readjust, being successful and how success is a diverse path and not a one size fits all approach. They were also given advice about being their authentic selves, staying focused, being the first generation to accomplish certain things and creating their own path with wisdom guiding their pathways.

In conclusion, Mayor Logan gave the end of session address and highlighted employment strategies while expressing gratitude for each participant’s commitment and value to the City of Blytheville.

“We truly look forward to continuing our youth employment efforts in the years to come,” Mayor Logan said.