Mayoral Candidates Speak on the Step-Up program for youth

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Step-Up is a local summer program that

introduces teens to temporary employment and prepares them for future

careers. It runs 9 weeks, not including the courses that must be

attended before hand. The students are educated about resumes, dress

codes, attitudes, bills, pay rates, credit cards, banking, checking,

necessary job skills, among other skills. At the start of the summer,

students pick out a job and are on the road to cultivating life

skills and a stipend of at least $1,000.

Mayor R.T. Rybak created the

internship program for teens so they could have an opportunity to

learn life and employment skills while making extra money. The

internships also teach the teen employees about the job fields, in

the hopes of helping youth find their career paths. It is targeted

toward minority teens, such as African Americans and Native

Americans. As it has grown and partnered with more companies, Step-Up

expanded and is available to more teens. Companies and organizations

such as the YWCA and the Hennepin County Libraries have even asked

for more interns.

Although Rybak has worked to make most

of Minneapolis youth eligible for Step-Up, there are still some

students who did not get accepted into the program and are left

unemployed. Some students have argued that the youth of higher

socioeconomic standing do not need the employment, but others say

that Step-Up is more than money and employment.

One of this year’s mayoral

candidates Bob Fine, 64, served on the Step-Up council as the park

board representative for several years. He says that Step-Up is a,

“priority of the Youth Coordinating Board,” and is planning on

enlarging the program. “I want to work to expand the program to

include more youth and offer more opportunities, such as year- round

programming, especially for the older participants.”

Fine wants to create more jobs for

more people, stretching outside of its current parameters. In

previous years, Step-Up was geared towards youth of lower

socioeconomic status. Now Fine says that Step-Up is vital to

Minneapolis, “making it a place where youth feel supported and

valued.” He says that doing this will also support the graduation

rates. In the Native American community, estimates say only 50

percent of Native students will graduate from high school. Fine

believes that expanding the Step-Up community will succeed in closing

that gap, as well as opening more doors for non-graduates. He plans

on funding this by pursuing the corporate contributions.

Mayoral candidate Jackie Cherryhomes,

58, agrees with the premise of Step-Up. “I am a strong supporter of

Step-Up and I compliment and congratulate [Rybak] on this very

successful program.” Cherryhomes said she is looking forward to the

possibility of being mayor and using that authority to expand and

strengthen Step-Up. Agreeing with Fine, Cherryhomes wants to work

towards including more youth in the future. If elected, Cherryhomes

said she plans on using the office to expand Step-Up, while Fine said

he would advance it, win or lose.

Brianna Skildum is currently a

sophomore at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis and writes for her

school newspaper. She writes for The Circle to broaden the discussion

in the Native youth community