Students Will Get Job Training in Helping Others

Forget the lazy days of summer spent sunning at the beach and hanging out with friends. More than 100 students at Santa Monica College have something much meatier in mind: community service.

Nnenna Onyewuchi, 18, an English major, said she is looking forward to working with disadvantaged youth and building hands-on experience outside of the classroom through Santa Monica College’s new Community Internships program.

“Instead of spending my summer doing nothing, it seemed like a chance to do something meaningful,” she said.

Patterned after President Clinton’s summer jobs program for disadvantaged youth, stalled in Congress with the rest of the economic stimulus package, the college announced Thursday a $200,000 project designed to raise civic spirit by pairing students with 16 local community service agencies in summer jobs working with children at risk.

“We’re not going to wait for Bill Clinton or Congress or anyone else,” college President Richard Moore said. “We’re going to start changing our town right now.”

Sixteen community agencies are participating, with job environments ranging from homeless shelters to inner-city basketball courts. Major student duties include tutoring and peer counseling, but may also require running recreational programs or assessing the health care needs of an entire family.

Students will be paid $5.97 an hour. They will also receive a $1,000 scholarship if they complete 100 hours of service, take four units during summer school and maintain a grade average of C or better.

The program is funded by a multimillion-dollar bequest of the late David Simon, a real estate investor and Santa Monica College graduate.

Vivian Rothstein, director of the Ocean Park Community Center, said she hopes the Santa Monica College program will provide students with a rare opportunity in today’s materialistic world to see how rewarding social service can be.

“Human services is a life-affirming choice for a young person to go into,” she said. “There’s something you get more than money. You get the ability to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and be proud of what you do.”

The group of students chosen for the program is racially mixed, program director Blanca Malpartida-Girard said. They were chosen from 239 applicants who were nominated by teachers or responded to campus advertisements, which included flyers and an article in the campus newspaper.

Organizers looked for a “strong desire to work with children,” Malpartida-Girard said, but other factors such as dependability and financial need were also considered. A dozen alternates were also chosen.

Students interviewed Thursday cited a variety of reasons for participating in the program.

Alfredo Rodriguez, 20, an architecture major, believes community service is an important part of his education as well as a lifelong obligation.

“I look at it as a way of paying back to my community,” he said. “It helps me to become a well-rounded person as well, and to understand problems which occur in the community.”

Ron Mantano, 24, said he wants to see if he enjoys working with children, hoping to reinforce his decision to become a high school teacher. A high school dropout, Mantano said he is also burning to encourage children to make responsible decisions.

Psychology major Natalie Graham, 22, is looking forward to putting what she learned in the classroom to work in the field. The summer job will give her valuable experience in helping people instead of concentrating on her own studies.

“It’s nice to be able to give for a change instead of being selfish,” she said.

Thursday afternoon the students listened to agency representatives talk about their work before meeting with them individually. Assignments will be made by matching student interest and agency needs, Malpartida-Girard said.

Even though the youths are untrained, agency representatives said they will bring talents that adults lack.

Youths make better role models and confidantes than adults because age gaps can often create communication barriers, said Lorenzo Merritt, executive director of Project Heavy West, a delinquency-prevention agency in Los Angeles. Also, he said, young people tend to be enthusiastic and unjaded.

Lorenzo recalled a quote by a General Motors worker who preferred working with younger engineers: “They don’t know that certain things can’t be done.”

The participating agencies are the Los Angeles Unified School District, city of Santa Monica, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Les Kelley Family Health Center, Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica, Ocean Park Community Center, Angeles Girl Scout Council, Venice Family Clinic, Project Heavy West, Latino Resource Organization, Burke Health Center, Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities, YWCA-Santa Monica, Neighborhood Resource Development Corp., Children’s Bureau of Southern California and Young Life.