For teens the hunt for a summer job can be tough to find. Iowa Workforce Development shows 17 % of high school graduates under the age of 20 are unemployed. Davenport is getting high marks for a program designed to help young people find work.
Even though its summer vacation, some high school students are busy at work.
"It's been a great experience,” says 17 year old Terriana Hicks.
Hicks is part of the Youth Core, a summer program helping students earn some money and teaching them skills.
"The hand shakes, the eye contact, the saying thank you, some of the skills that we believe generations are forgetting to use,” says Mike Ross, coordinator for Youth Core.
It’s just one of the programs the city of Davenport offers to help employ teens. Businesses like Jimmy John’s and Happy Joes are also helping, by offering jobs to teens.
On Friday, June 14, 2013, businesses and city leaders met to discuss more ways they can help.
"I think we can all kind of learn from each other, take info back and kind of partner, kind of a win-win for everybody,” says Amy Herrig, employment and training counselor for Iowa at Work.
Also bringing awareness to what’s available for them, "You don’t know what to do, should you do it on the internet, should you take the application into them,” says Hicks.
Giving teens the extra push they need to succeed, "The skills of coming to work on time, wearing proper clothing and asking questions, filling out time sheets, those types of things from the first week to now have really come a long way,” says Ross.
While making them stand out, "When they go out and compete with all the other people that are after those jobs they'll shine far above everyone else,” says Ross.
The round table discussion is one of the four held around the country.
