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The school year is winding to a close, but rather than fantasizing about barbeques and pool parties, Queens students are looking for summer jobs.

Adjoa Gfiza, Associate Director of the Workforce Education Center at LaGuardia Community College, works to place City residents, ages14 to 21, in entry-level positions for the summer. She said she already has more applicants than she can place.

LaGuardia is one of 12 Queens providers that has partnered with the Department of Youth and Community Development’s Summer Youth Employment Program, a seven-week program that provides young people with real-world workplace experience. The program, which runs from July 7 to Aug. 15, also offers career counseling and money management workshops.

“As our community grows and flourishes, we need to ensure
that everyone shares in the prosperity and economic opportunities available,” Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said. “This is especially true of young people who are about to enter the job market and need the mentoring and support that may not always be available.”

The City’s hospitals, summer camps, nonprofits, law firms, museums and retail organizations are not charged anything to host SYEP participants; DYCD pays them a minimum wage stipend.

“This is a win/win situation for both our local businesses and our young people,” Assemblywoman Ellen Young (D-Flushing) said. “When our youth get involved in the community, they not only contribute to society as a whole, but they begin to develop the personal character necessary to lead responsible and productive lives.”

Gfiza said she has already received 1,500 applications and expects to get 2,000 by the time the May 16 deadline arrives. The 2,000 applicants will then be placed in a lottery and selected at random.

“It should be first come first serve,” Gfiza said.
With SYEP providers receiving more applicants than they can place, the announcement that Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 Executive Budget would reduce Summer Youth slots by 5,600, saving the City $8 million, was not welcomed news.

“The mayor’s budget has significant cuts to the program and some of us are going to have to fight against it,” Liu said. “There’s a lot of interest among families and the big challenge right now is to minimize funding cuts to the program. The stronger the demand, the more of a mandate we’ll have to support the program.”

SYEP enabled Gerard Cannon, 19, to work at the LaGuardia College Media Lab last summer.

“We moved equipment back and forth…We set up a computer and I helped,” Cannon, now a freshman at LaGuardia, said. “A lot of kids in the summer don’t have a job. It’s a way to get away from home.”

Every summer, several SYEP participants are placed at Community Board 12.

“I have to say I have been pleased with the summer youth down through the years,” CB 12 District Manager Yvonne Reddick said. “They come back to visit.”

The budget is still weeks away from being finalized, but if there are cuts, they will have an impact on the number of opportunities available this year. Nevertheless, Gfiza is recommending that youths, like Cannon, still submit their applications.

“It’s best to have their name in the pot,” she said.
Application forms and additional information about SYEP are available on the City’s Web site at www.nyc.gov or by calling the City’s Youth Line at 1-800-246-4646.