The students will undergo two days of employment training and then work a total of 126 hours on the job at a nonprofit in Burbank. Job options vary and students can pick from work in labor, city parks and recreation, child care and clerical positions, program coordinator Brian Kaloustian said.
"And we talk during the interview process about what best suits them," Kaloustian said.
About 40% of the students in this year's program are repeats, having been enrolled in previous years, he said.
One of those students is Antonio Piralyan, 16, who is going on his second year in the program.
"I've worked for the Burbank Unified School District, Human Resources and I'm going to work this year for Burbank Water and Power," Antonio said. "They're both office jobs. It's a really good program. We have training so when we go to our job, we know where everything is, we know what's going on."
Students are chosen for the program based on their level of household income and their grades. Workers in the program typically have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, he said.
"A majority of them … are low to moderate income," he said. "So were trying to help these students that come from the lower economic status. It's really surprising when you see these kids who are doing excellent in class and you can see that they are going to be excellent parts of the community yet they are really struggling economically."
On top of the skills they are expected to acquire, students will also make about $900 for the six weeks they participate in the program.
Because the money is not paid by the nonprofit organizations but provided by the city of Burbank's Community Development Block Grant and Federal Housing and Urban Development funds, the amount of funds available for paying the students is fixed.
The number of hours the students will work this summer was trimmed down from 140 last year to compensate for an increase to minimum wage, he said. But the students will still make as much as they would have last year.
Some of the places students work include the Buena Vista Library, Burbank Boys & Girls Club and the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, Boegh said.
"It gives them that first job," she said. "And now when they fill out a resume they can list the skills they have and speak confidently about what they bring to that position."
The program will operate out of David Starr Jordan Middle School, where Kaloustian teaches.
