For many of the eight youths participating in the V.I. National Park’s Youth Conservation Corps summer job program, it’s their first experience in the world of work.
“It seemed like a good opportunity and I needed the money,” said 16-year-old Kareem Browne Jr.
Like Browne, most of the summer workers live on St. John. The others take the ferry every day from St. Thomas for the eight-week program that pays them the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. All those who were at work Wednesday said they attend Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas.
They got the jobs because they won the park lottery, meaning their names, coded by numbers, were picked out of a hat by the park’s deputy superintendent, Jayne Schaeffer.
Several said the fact that they had a summer job will look good on their resume.
“If you go to get another job, they will see you worked here,” St. John resident Marc Durand said.
Te’Kejah Richardson, 16, of St. John said the job experience will also show future employers that she can work with others. “And it teaches discipline,” she said.
The interns head out Mondays through Fridays with Bertha C. Boschulte School social studies teacher Topaze Lake as their leader.
The jobs they do are diverse and include painting parking lots, replacing stairs at Annaberg Plantation, cleaning beaches and working at the park’s archeology program.
“Their labor does help do good things,” Schaeffer said, but added the goal of the summer program is to introduce the youths to the park with the hopes of making them park fans.
“We’re hoping to grow folks who really love the park,” she said.
Several are getting the message.
“I’ve been learning about the beaches and more about the national park,” said St. John 15-year-old Nicole Haynes.
However, a park career isn’t likely for most of the students.
“Medicine or law,” said St. Thomas resident Kevin Williams, 15, when asked about his future plans.
When asked their favorite experience so far, several said taking the boat from the park office in Cruz Bay to Reef Bay to clean up the beaches won hands down.
St. John resident Amaan Rainer, 16, said the beach wasn’t really that dirty.
While all seven who were on hand Wednesday at the start of their workday said there were plenty of pluses about the job, a few did have some minor complaints.
“The worst is when we have to lift up heavy stuff and the mosquitoes are bad,” said St. John resident Alli-yah Henry, 15.
