Burbank teens work in job program

Darleene Barrientos

During the summer, Michael Shirabad could have spent his time sitting

at home, but instead decided to get a job.

But 15-year-old job seekers have a hard time finding employment at

the local malls, so Michael headed for the city of Burbank, where he

was hired to help clear brush and also learned skills like writing a

resume and cover letters, and performing first aid.

“It was fun. It was better than just sitting at home during the

summer,” Michael said. “I learned a lot of stuff, and I got paid for

it, too.”

Michael was one of hundreds of Glendale and Burbank youths who

worked this summer and this year through the Glendale Youth Alliance.

Thirty of his fellow employees were honored as workers of the summer

and workers of the year, and another 13 were awarded scholarships

during Wednesday’s awards luncheon at the Glendale Civic Auditorium.

The GYA has been helping teens 14 through 21 find work throughout

the community since 1993.

Programs include brush clearance for first-time workers with

little or no previous experience and year-round jobs for youths with

work experience.

The alliance aims to help employ youths by teaching them job

skills that cannot be learned in a classroom or in a textbook.

This is the first year the GYA has included Burbank youths in its

work program, Burbank coordinator Summer Barwick said. Because

Glendale initially applied for state funds reserved for the Verdugo

area, including Glendale, Burbank and La Canada Flintridge, Burbank’s

program was operated by its employees for its youths as part of the

GYA.

“This is the first time we’ve ever done this and it was very

successful,” Barwick said. “We hired 50 youths in Burbank we would

not have been able to hire in past years.”

During the 2003-04 program year, the GYA employed 205 teens in its

summer youth employment program, 51 teens in its Glendale Youth

Employment Partnership, 52 youths in its STARS (Students Taking

Action to Reach for the Stars) program and 29 teens in its GREAT

(Glendale’s Resource for Employment and Training) program. Fifty-one

youths also served at the Boy Scout Explorer Post #604 to learn

leadership training and experience.