Youth in the City of Alexandria’s Teenswork program celebrated the end of their six-week summer working experience in a ceremony held in Nannie J. Lee Center on Aug. 18.

This year’s Teenswork program, which began on July 11 and ended Aug. 18, placed 170 students ages 14 to 21 within Alexandria non-profit and government agencies so that they could get paid working experience. Youth were employed at worksites such as Community Lodgings, Alexandria City Public Schools, Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Senior Services of Alexandria and the City of Alexandria.

Students in the program worked as salesmen, childcare workers, office administrators, event planners, peer advisors, recreation center employees and more. The program provided students with $11 per hour pay for up to 30 hours each week.

Teenswork paired each participant with a Youth Employment Counselor who assisted them in successfully completing the program. Youth Employment Counselors and Katrina Ashmore, director of the Workforce Development Center, were present for the Teenswork closing ceremony.

At the ceremony, each student received a certificate of completion and a letter from Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson. Councilor Alyia Gaskins spoke to youth about her experience working at age 14 and Jaqueline Tucker from the Race and Social Equity office encouraged the students to continue to pursue their dreams.

Several youth from the program also received awards for their accomplishments during the summer; Hannah Gibson won the “Stand Out Award,” Vanessa Armah won the “Extra Mile Award” and Karim Aly won the “Problem Solver Award.”

Learn more about the Teenswork program at www.alexandriava.gov/WorkforceDevelopment.

-lhardy@alextimes.com