Enriching Tomorrow’s

Leaders, One Lab at a Time

Felicia Bracey, City of Richmond DPU

Enriching Tomorrow’s Leaders, One Lab at a

Time

• What is the Mayor Youth Academy?

• How did the City of Richmond laboratories become involved?

• Growing Pains

• Successes and Failures

• Projection for the future

Mayors Youth Academy(MYA)

• In 2010, Mayor Dwight C. Jones initiated a program designed to develop

Richmond’s future leaders and workforce. The academy targets youth

between the ages of 13-18.

• It is the mission of the Mayor's Youth Academy to provide development

opportunities to youth throughout the city of Richmond which includes: job

readiness training, leadership development, exposure to entrepreneurship,

mentoring, and post-secondary career exploration.

Mayor’s Youth Academy (MYA)

• The goal is to develop Richmond's future workforce into determined, successful citizens who will one day become Richmond’s city leaders. In doing so, the academy strives to accomplish the following goals:

• Provide extensive training for youth

• Develop employability skills

• Promote civic engagement

• Expose youth to post-secondary educational and/or vocational opportunities

• Provide professional mentors and instructors in a variety of career paths

• Provide safe and constructive social outlets through supervised out of school activities

• Encourage continued school enrollment

Mayor’s Youth Academy (MYA)

• MYA Work Experience interns (ages 16-19), are provided with diverse employment placements and introduced to a variety of industries and career paths including: higher education, non-profits, library sciences, entrepreneurship, human/social services, state government. Some employment placement partners include: VDOT, Kings Dominion, McDonalds and even the city jail.

• MYA Work Experience interns are prepared to enhance productivity and contribute to a positive work environment with enthusiasm and professionalism.

• MYA Work Experience interns are certified “Job Ready” receiving four weeks of pre-employment training designed to strengthen the skills needed to succeed in the working world.

Mayor’s Youth Academy (MYA)

• During the four week training the interns are taught:

• Professional attire and business etiquette.

• Effective communication skills.

• Resume writing and interviewing techniques.

• Conflict resolution and professional decorum.

• Each Monday (9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) during the summer placement is reserved for continued training and development conducted by MYA staff and industry experts.

And the journey begins…

• The City of Richmond laboratory supervisor Audrey Brubeck received a

phone call from the Mayor Youth Academy asking if we would be interested

in hosting a summer intern in 2011.

• The lab was reluctant however was able to accept the challenge. It was

determined the intern would begin its internship at the Wastewater

Treatment Plant.

• The internship program lasted for six weeks.

Growing pains

• Our first year was TERRIBLE! Our intern was a rising senior at Thomas

Jefferson High School and had NO interest in science!

• There was no true direction taken with our intern!

• There was poor planning because of the short time frame given!

• The summer intern was mostly shadowing a laboratory staff personnel,

discarding samples, washing bottles and performing secretarial duties.

Growing pains

• At the end of the six weeks, the wastewater laboratory staff gathered for a

weekly staff meeting to discuss the internship. Some successes were shared

but a lot of failures were also shared.

• It was determined that if the laboratory was to be apart of this program

again, that it would need to be more structured and organized for the next

intern. That way, not only would we feel better about the program but the

intern would truly take something from out of the experience.

Round Two

• For the 2012 summer internship program, a few changes had been made.

• Both laboratories would be involved

• Leaders were established at both plants

• Structured syllabus detailing a week by week schedule was made for Wastewater intern

• Both leaders became more involved with the Mayor’s Youth Academy selection process by attending monthly meetings with other companies involved and holding interviews to personally select our interns.

Round Two

• Unlike the previous year, the established leaders from both labs hand

selected the summer interns. The interns were interviewed and given

questions to answer to showcase their abilities. The top two interns were

selected.

• The water plant laboratory selected a rising junior male from Huguenot High

School and wastewater plant laboratory selected a rising senior from Open

High School.

Round Two

• During the six week program, the interns shadowed both Water Quality

Technicians and Senior Chemists, received hands on experience with

different analysis(when permitted), received tours of the plants, completed

lab projects established by the laboratory leader as well as participated in our

City of Richmond Safety Stand Down.

• At the end of the six week program, the wastewater intern presented an end

of summer PowerPoint presentation highlighting her accomplishments.

And the verdict is in

• Concluding the program, another round table discussion took place to discuss this year’s internship program. It was unanimously concluded that this year was a success! Not only were we able to articulate how significantly important it is to have a water and wastewater plant but we were also able to show how the lab plays a big role in the success of both plants.

• An added benefit this year was the relationships that were established between the intern and the staff. Being that each staff member worked alongside the intern, the intern was able to hear stories about life and experiences that they could use in the future.

Years three and four

• With our third and forth year, more positive changes were made to build

upon the foundation that had been established from year two. There were

now new leaders in the laboratory in charge of the internship program.

Some changes included:

• Shadowing Chief Chemist of Operations and Chief Chemist of QA/QC

• More interactive PowerPoints presentations to include videos

• Watching one webinar a week and writing a training record report at the conclusion

Into the future

• Each year the summer internship program has gotten bigger and better than the previous year. We have seen our failures and have eliminated them. We have capitalized on our successes and looking to expand more each year.

• We have looked into incorporating more Standards of Learning(SOL) into our program to help show the intern how what they learn in their classrooms can actually be applied to everyday work experience.

• We’re looking to start showing more in our plant tours. We want our interns to better understand the treatment process and each step in that process. We have included showing the Shockoe Retention Basin. The intern was blown away by the size of the retention basin as well as how this hidden jewel is in his own “backyard”.

Into the future

• We’re have also started taking a stronger interest in our intern to see how we

can better assist them outside the laboratory. We have started preparing our

interns for “real world” experiences, better success in the classrooms, how to

better approach conflict when it arises and even steps to make yourself more

marketable for the workplace.

Why is enriching our future important?

• You would be surprised how many youth and even adults have no idea the

possibilities that await them in the environmental field.

• We need to do a better job showcasing our jobs to young people. If we stop

educating our future generations by not doing internships or even doing

plant tours, our jobs market will suffer.

• By developing a young person early and allowing them to see a world that is

unknown to them, you have potentially gain a future employee which keeps

the business going.

A summer internship in 2007 with the

City of Richmond Wastewater Treatment

plant is what brought me into this

business. What brought you here?

Thank you!