Workforce Alliance program helps young adults look for a job in Wichita this summer

Young workers in the Wichita area can receive continued job training and work assistance after the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas obtained two new grants.

Bank of America awarded the alliance, which includes the Wichita Workforce Center, a $45,000 grant that will support the Youth Employment Project. As part of youth development efforts, the Workforce Center helps young adults find a first job. That could mean assisting with creating a resume and preparing for interviews. It also includes education in soft skills, customer service and money management.

This will be the fifth consecutive year Bank of America has supported the program. The Workforce Alliance has worked to promote at-risk, young adult employment since 2009.

In 2019, the center established a formal network: Helping Youth Prepare for Employment, dubbed HYPE. It’s a collaboration among the Workforce Alliance, the city of Wichita, the Greater Wichita YMCA, Wichita State University, USD 259 and other school districts across south central Kansas.

Together, the partners have a goal to see 1,000 teens find a job this summer.

The Workforce Alliance also runs Camp Hype, week-long career exploration sessions that aim to expose teens to job opportunities in the Wichita area. Different sessions focus on different employment sectors in the region and are sponsored by local employers.

Young people are expected to treat Camp Hype like a job and earn a $125 cash stipend at the end of the session. Each camp is limited to 20 participants and teens can only choose one session. Those who have previously attended Camp Hype are ineligible this year.

Camps focused on technology and trade skills have already passed. Two different aviation camps will take place: one next week from June 21 to 25 and another July 12 to 16. A health care camp will take place June 28 to July 2. You can learn more and register for the camp sessions online.

The second grant will place two students in an eight-week internship through the Student Leader Program, a national initiative from Bank of America that sends high school juniors and seniors to a local non-profit. The intention is for young people to learn more about civic, social and business leadership skills.

Those chosen to participate can also attend the Student Leaders Summit, held virtually this year, with partners in Washington, D.C. The programs aims to help students see first hand the ways in which government, business and nonprofit sectors can work together to address community needs.

This year will be the third summer the Student Leader Program is available in the Wichita area. The two students, who have already been picked through a competitive process, began their internships last week.

Aditya Joshi recently graduated from Wichita East High School and plans to attend the University of California-Berkeley this fall to major in economics and business management. Aviyah Pepperstone is a rising senior at East High.

This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 11:52 AM.

Megan Stringer

The Wichita Eagle

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Megan Stringer reports for The Wichita Eagle, where she focuses on issues facing the working class, labor and employment. She joined The Eagle in June 2020 as a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Previously, Stringer covered business and economic development for the USA Today Network-Wisconsin, where her award-winning stories touched on everything from retail to manufacturing and health care.