By Ashley Albiani
July 19, 2010

Boston (MA) Mayor Thomas Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis, along with representatives from John Hancock Financial, Boston University, Partners HealthCare, and The Boston Globe, kicked off Bostons Martin Luther King (MLK) Summer Jobs program on July 7. With a record-breaking number of participating youth, over 650 scholars, this million-dollar initiative represents the countrys largest corporate-based Summer Jobs program.

“MLK Summer Scholars provides Bostons high school students, from Brighton to Roxbury, with both a job and an important life experience, which also helps improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods. To have leaders from different sectors--business, healthcare, education and media -- come together to offer this innovative program to support Bostons young people is truly remarkable. Its this type of collaboration that makes Boston special, and I know their work will have a valuable impact throughout our city,” said Menino. 

High school students participating in Martin Luther King Summer Jobs work for non-profit agencies or sponsor organizations throughout Boston for seven weeks during the summer months. Aside from earning their first paychecks and gaining valuable work experience, scholars attend professional life skills workshops each Friday at Boston University. Their curriculum, entitled “Making the Dream Real,” addresses the principles of Martin Luther King Jr. and includes a variety of guest speakers to discuss topics such as personal finance, goal setting, leadership and staying fit. Presenters include: Beverly Morgan-Welch from the Museum of African American History, Former Boston Celtics Player Dana Barros, Reverend Ray Hammond and representatives from John Hancock Financial.

The Martin Luther King Summer Jobs initiative provides job readiness for Boston teenagers by offering work experience in career-oriented jobs. It also improves communities by keeping youth off the streets and in a productive environment throughout the summer. In order to insure a meaningful and rich experience for Boston high school students, the not-for-profit organizations participating in the program agree to provide professional supervision for youth, complete an evaluation survey, and attend both a kickoff and a wrap-up meeting with other agencies.

The teenage employment rate in America is currently the lowest ever recorded since the end of World War II, dropping to a devastating 26.2 percent in 2010. This depression in the teen labor market has impacted low-income teenagers and young adults without four-year college degrees the most. The only major initiative recently introduced to help the nations youth was a small, short-term job creation program financed under the American Recovery and Investment Act in 2009. Since then, the teen job market has essentially collapsed, with a current employment rate a little over one-half of its value in 2000. The Martin Luther King Summer Jobs program constitutes a large'scale effort at resolving this issue and providing a job market for teenagers.

Partners HealthCare President Dr. Gary L. Gottlieb said, “Students who work during high school have higher graduation rates, are more likely to enroll in college, and they help keep Boston families healthy and neighborhoods strong.  We are pleased to support MLK Summer Scholars, because these young people represent our future health care workforce and our future leaders.”