Monday, July 17, 2000
Firefighters reach out to boost teens
Jobs teach work skills and responsibility
By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Firefighter Willie Jones and Antwan Walker, 15, clean and sort firehose.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Whenever he hears the sirens and horns of a fire engine rolling by, James Bates rushes to a window at his Golf Manor home. James, 14, has become an aspiring firefighter, one of 10 youths working in Cincinnati firehouses through the Kids at Risk summer jobs program.
Twenty-six more youngsters ages 14-18 are working in the private sector, including retail sales, secretarial work and the service industry.
“I feel like I'm really learning what (firefighters) do,” he said last week. “This is hard work. But I like it.”
Someday, he might join them.
Meanwhile, he's learning that it's not all excitement. On Thursday, he cleaned hoses at the East McMicken Avenue station of Fire Engine No. 5 in Over-the- Rhine.
It wasn't make-work for James and his nine buddies.
Hoses must be cleaned after each run to keep them in working condition, said Willie Jones, a Cincinnati firefighter who started Kids at Risk last year with 22 teens.
“The kids learn a skill and they learn to respect themselves. They learn the meaning of work and they know what it means to serve their community,” Mr. Jones said.
It can work, Jerritt Hayes, 15, of Avondale, acknowledged. He has learned “you have to shoot for your goals. I know how to behave and how not to behave.”
Jerritt also has revised his image of firefighters. He used to think “they got to sit around the fire station and talk. But now, I know their jobs are not easy. This is much more than sitting around talking.”
Kids at Risk isn't Mr. Jones' first effort. He won national recognition in 1998 for volunteer work with the former Fleischmann Boys
and Girls Club of Avondale (now the Firstar Boys and Girls Club).
Teens get exposure to the criminal justice system and perform community service in nursing homes.
The youngsters work Monday through Friday and earn $5.25 an hour, minimum wage. They must meet Mr. Jones' rules:
• No baggy pants.
• Shirts must be tucked in.
• Back talk is not tolerated.
Disciplinary problems can lead to dismissal.
Kids at Risk operates on donations. Supporters include the city's Citizens' Committee on Youth and the African-American Firefighters Association.
The teens are supervised by Tracy Smith, a CCY employee.
The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati helps participants retain their earnings with the hope it will set a lifetime pattern of savings and investment.
Teens are required to invest $25 from their weekly paycheck. They set up financial portfolios and study ways of increasing their earnings. After the program ends, the teens are free to do what they want with the money.
To support Kids at Risk, call Willie Jones at 691-0096.
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