The teenage graduates of the Genesis Center’s YouthWERX program, concluded last week, can now enter the workforce with practical experience, a little cashand their own business. The six-week session, for which the 10 participating teens were paid minimum wage, emphasized “learning through applying skills, rather than just lecture,” said program coordinator Tim Barsky. As a street performer and storyteller, Brown University graduate Barsky is a businessman himself.
The course was designed to be a first work experience for the students, who are from immigrant and refugee families.
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“They’re first generation Americans,” Barsky said. “By the time they hit their teens, they’re marginalized. Society has been telling them they can’t succeed.”
There are other obstacles as well.
“About half my class has serious problems with literacy,” he said. “We have everything from one at a kindergarten reading level to another who is a National Merit scholar. They are bright and brilliant, but if they can’t read, they can’t work.”
To combine work experience with the development of academic skills, Barsky and Genesis Adult Education Director Sally Gabb formulated a curriculum that encompassed internships, field trips and guest lecturers besides the group’s classroom work. Students participated in internships – doing everything from babysitting to baking pizzas – at small businesses and non-profits on Providence’s South Side.
What did the students learn from their work experiences?
“To be responsible, to not be shy,” said one.
“To be friendly,” said another. “To take responsibility for your actions.”
“I learned to use the computer,” said a third.
Field trips were also a large part of the program, which included the Small Business Development Office on Broad Street, the Met School and Direct Action for Rights and Equality. The group performed community service at AIDS Care Ocean State, and took a walking tour of their neighborhood’s businesses, noting what is there and what is missing.
One omission noticed by the group is a neighborhood supermarket. Elmwood residents must rely on public transportation in order to do their shopping if they don’t have access to a car, or “the people from the supermarket on Brush Street will give people rides,” a student said.
Barsky said the tour inspired some lively discussions.
“Once you get them thinking about it, they can’t stop,” he said. “I really wanted them looking at business and seeing how society affects business.”
Thursdays and Fridays were reserved for academics.
“One of the hardest parts was they really hate the classroom,” Barsky said. “So one of the challenges was transforming it to a place that’s more interesting.”
Barsky emphasized writing – whatever form it took.
“I encouraged them to write notes, poems, anything,” he said. “It’s self-propelled learning. Once the kids want to do it, you’ve got it.”
The resulting book, “What Matters,” is a collection of poems, stories and interviews conducted by the students with their internship worksite supervisors.
Gabb has overseen the YouthWERX program for the last four years.
“This is the first year they’ve designed an actual business,” Gabb said. “The reason we’re able to do that is because our grant funding goes until December. This allows us to really develop and market a product.”
Gabb praised Barsky’s skills in the classroom.
“It’s been an atmosphere that has really been positive for them,” she said. “They’ve been able to feel comfortable and identify their strengths. It’s not dry – it’s exciting.”
Skills tests covering basic math and English administered at the end of the program show significant improvement – some as high as 100 percent – over the pretests the students took at the beginning of the course.
The group has decided a T-shirt company, to be called South Side Lab, will be their first business venture. “Lab” is derived from the ethnic makeup of the class itself – Latino, Asian, black.
“They’re going to be different colors with the same picture,” said one of the young entrepreneurs, of the shirts she will help sell.
“Our slogan is ‘the cure for the ills of the South Side,'” said another.
The program will continue through December after school, probably on a weekly basis.
“I want them to understand the advantage of having your own business is nobody tells you what to do,” Barsky said. “The disadvantage is nobody’s going to give you a paycheck.”
Plans for South Side Lab will come into fruition this fall, when the company’s business plan is set in motion.
Barsky will continue to meet with the group, but said his input regarding actual business decisions will be minimal.
“The students will decide how to run it,” Barsky said. “They will make all the decisions. It will be up to them.”
