Nearly three dozen Topeka youths are giving up part of their summer vacation to learn skills that could help them well into the future.
The Teen Summer Career Leadership Focused Institute, operated by Topeka-based Faith and Hard Work Ministry, is exposing some 34 students ages 12 to 18 to everything from job training to money management. The program is in its second year.
Curtis Pitts, chairman of Faith and Hard Works Ministry Inc., said the focus of the summer program “is to create hope and opportunities for young people in our community.”
To date, Pitts said, the 34 youths in the program have cleaned up neighborhoods, fed meals to children in East Topeka and volunteered at various community events.
Students meet five times a week, including in a classroom on the lower level of the Statehouse and at the Topeka Workforce Center, where they hear various speakers discuss “job training, job preparation and how to keep a job,” Pitts said.
Students come from several local schools, among them Topeka High School, Highland Park High School and Topeka West High School.
Participants were accepted into the program after they received recommendations from adults.
Support for the summer program, which started the first week of June and will continue into early August, has come from the Topeka Workforce Center, the City of Topeka, Heartland Works, Greater Topeka Partnership, Kansas State University and Jackson’s Greenhouse, Pitts said.
Among the program participants is Frederick Sanders, 17, who will be a senior at Topeka High this fall.
Sanders said he was taking part in the program for the second summer for “the experience” and “to learn something new.”
A major point of emphasis, he said, has been for the youths to “take responsibility for your actions” and be a part of a team.
Money management is another area of emphasis, participants said.
“We’re learning how to handle our money,” said Kennedy Payne, 14, who will be a freshman this fall at Topeka High. “When you get your first paycheck, we’re learning how to save it and not spend it in one place.”
The group has learned some business principles this past month, when it ran a concession stand at the Juneteenth celebration in downtown Topeka.
Its next business venture will be running a car wash and a detailing station at the East Topeka Renaissance District, located at 809 S.E. 12th. The car wash business is scheduled to be open from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Saturdays.