@WildWayne gets the scoop on Mayor Cantrelle's Summer Youth Employment program 2023

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Q ninety three is your boy wildWayne. Good day to everyone out there.
And like I told you, Ihave the Mayor of New Orleans,
Mayor LaToya Cantrell on the line withme. Good day. How are you
doing well? Wayne? Thank youso much for just making the time for
me to come on air and reallyspeak to a youth employment opportunities in the

(00:24):
City of New Orleans. Nothing stopsa bullet like a job. You know,
summer is approaching and the city hasbeen intentional about making opportunities available for
ages sixteen to sixteen to twenty fourand even youth employment with NORDS experiences from
thirteen up. Okay, So it'sthe mayor Summer Youth Program that they do

(00:46):
annually. And the big deal hereis we want our kids to be active
this summer and not just running aroundactive, but able to get a nice
wage while they do some work andlearn some great habits as well. You
guys have minimum pay a fifteen dollarsthis year, minimum pay fifteen dollars an
hour. This is something again sixteento twenty four in terms of ages.

(01:11):
The work dates are June fifth throughJuly fourteen, okay, And what are
some of the jobs that you guyshave lined up with some different business partners,
so we are connecting job seekers againto these high wages. The industries
are partner industries, whether it isof industries in terms of green infrastructure,

(01:34):
of course administrative work. It's justa diversity as it relates to equity and
inclusion in the workplace, and sothere's really something for everyone. There are
lifeguards, for example, even withNorth that are available, and we're wanting
to make sure that we're able toopen up all the pools even in the

(01:56):
city of New Orleans, which againspeaks to our ability to have life guard.
Now, how do we encourage allof our young people to get out
there want to be lifeguards Because Iremember having a conversation with Larry Barabino last
year that had annoyed and they hadthese lifeguard jobs but a lot of kids
weren't going to actually get them.Well, let me tell you, we

(02:16):
did have a significant amount of youngpeople who are applying. But I have
to be honest with you when it'ssomething that we have to be focused on
as a community, right and it'sthe inability. Some of our young people
did not pass the drug test,and so we have been very much deliberate
about working with our youth, workingwith our parents, and working with our

(02:38):
community partners to help our young peoplestay on the right path and when they
do so, and even listen,we have work that is available for them.
Now. I know they have avariety of jobs. Do they have
any concentrations on digital based jobs?Because the tech industry is obviously the next

(03:00):
level and where we're going toward asa whole, it seems like this will
be a great lower rung ladder toget started in possibly a career in that
field. Sure, so there arefocuses on high demand and better paying job
opportunities, which speaks to our growingindustries in our city, whether that is

(03:21):
technology, bioscience, of course greenand blue infrastructure. We're making sure again
that we're creating these opportunities. Andlisten what I tell some of my young
people and also the parents, sometimesthese opportunities for you to it allows our
young people to kind of hone inon things that they do like and even

(03:42):
things that they do not like.Meaning the experiences matter in every aspect.
So even if it becomes clear tothem of a profession that they really don't
want to get involved in, althoughthey may have wanted to in the beginning,
so whether that's technology, getting thatexperience on the ground, and they
may say, you know what,I'm more interested in healthcare. So it

(04:03):
just again, every experience is agreat experience for our young people, and
we're just wanting to be diversity,create diverse opportunities, and of course equity
and inclusion in the workspace. Now, you know, that's a very interesting
story to tell. Let me tellyou my story about when I was in

(04:25):
high school, I think maybe freshmanyear. I decided I was going to
work with my stepdad who had aconstruction company. I mean tons of money
that summer, but it was hot, it was dirty, and I said,
you know what, I'm not gonnabe a laborer. And that's how
I ended up at zav University.I was like, I'm going to get
my education because there's bigger fish tofry. Well, that's the whole point

(04:48):
I think you're making it crystal clearjust in regards too. Again, every
opportunity is a great one, andit just allows our young people to have
a better understand or be able tohone in of really what their interests are
for the long term. Right,Yeah, that's absolutely regulars. They will
definitely find out the things that maybethey thought were great and maybe aren't so

(05:10):
great in vice versus. So that'sawesome now to get an opportunity to get
the experience and get paid at thesame time with this introduction here at the
Mayor Summer Youth Program, Now,how many kids do you think you'll be
able to service this summer? So, in partnership with NORD and Job one,
we're looking at well over two thousandjob opportunities. But when you think

(05:30):
about the overall internships as well,meaning our college students and the like and
that full compliment, it's over thirtyfive hundred and so you know, we
have Job one, for example,has a thousand job seekers and employment with
over one hundred and seventy two newemployers, and we have employed over five

(05:51):
hundred and six youth in twenty twentytwo. But looking at this year at
one thousand that also see to NORD, the focus is on one thousand to
over two thousand opportunities, and ofcourse intern NOLA. Now the internships are
specific to college students in our communityand with opportunities that are closely aligned with

(06:15):
their program of study and academic major. Now this is for ages eighteen to
twenty four and the intern salary hereor payment here hourly wage is sixteen dollars
twenty seven cents per hour. Andthese are again ages eighteen to twenty four
and the dates of employment are Junefifth through July twenty eighth. Okay,

(06:40):
good information, because I know thatthere's either some kids that are thinking about
college or maybe about to inter college, or maybe even in college. So
to have a paid internship is definitelythe way to go learn and get paid.
Absolutely, and Wayne listen, Iwill be remissed if I didn't mention
the norteen Career camps. Now,these camps are designed for ages thirteen to

(07:03):
thirteen to fifteen, excuse me,and those dates are June fifth through July
fourteenth. Now participants earn a stipendof seventy five dollars per week for six
week periods. So again this isa unique way to target those age groups
that are under the age of sixteenthirteen to fifteen. And again breakfast lunch

(07:27):
field trips are also provided and bakedinto these learning and employment opportunities, so
there's something for everyone with NORD aswell as job one. There it is
Mayor LaToya Cantrell speaking on the Mayor'sSummer Youth Program. So now is the
time for people to get signed upand registered. Where can they get registered

(07:49):
and also get more information if theymiss any parts of what we just talked
about, absolutely, So one quickplace that they can go is to the
city's website one it's nola dot gov. There's also the Workforce Development job once
website job one nola dot org.All of this information is there both for

(08:15):
job one as well as nord employmentopportunities. So this goes out to all
the parents out there. Push yourkids to get involved with these different opportunities.
Don't accept noah as an answer.Know what your kids are doing.
If you got to get out thereand work to provide for your family,

(08:35):
Get your kids introduced to this partof life because this is a real part
of life. And you know,if they don't learn this now, you
know, those bad habits get worse. So now is the time to set
really good habits and examples and thenworking and being able to contribute to their
own little needs and maybe even somefamily needs. This is a great opportunity
to do it, So don't lookthe gift horse in the mouth, but

(08:58):
take advantage of the Mayor's youth employmentprogram. I thank you for taking the
time to join me today. Thankyou so much. While Wayne love you
man no doubt. Have a greatweekend and we'll be back with more.
It's que ninety three. Thanks somuch.