Name of Individual: David Mason
Award Name: Workforce Investment Act
Administered By: Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD)
 | | David Mason, a 16-year-old junior at Louis Brandeis High School on the Upper West Side, was more than a little nervous during his first day on the job at the law firm Weiss and Associates, P.C. “I didn’t even know how to use a fax machine,” said David, who is involved in the foster care system and got his job through DYCD’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), a seven-week jobs program for New York City youth between the ages of 14 and 24. Thanks to a funding boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the City was able to enroll an additional 13,000 young people in the program during the summer of 2009. |
By the end of the summer, David was working side-by-side with the law firm's president. He made the most of the opportunity. According to his supervisor Rosemarie Colon-Miles, "David is responsible, timely and communicates well. He presented himself professionally everyday."
David's hard work is already paying dividends. Following the completion of SYEP, Weiss and Associates, P.C. hired him to work three afternoons per week during the school year.
In the fall of 2009, David Mason had no idea whether or not he would be able to find work over the following summer. When the summer of 2010 came around, there was no need for David to apply for SYEP because he had already been promised a job at Weiss and Associates, P.C., where he continues to work three afternoons per week during the school year. He is saving the money he earns and plans to attend college. He hopes to study criminal justice and eventually become a police officer.
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