The Summer Youth Program is sponsored by the City’s Neighborhood Services Bureau, to encourage young men and women to learn a skill and promote teamwork.  The Department of Public Works’ 3rd Annual Summer Youth Sidewalk Project included five individuals from this program to work with the Street Maintenance concrete and excavation crews.

These young men, ages 16 through 19, worked on the 1800 and 1900 blocks of Atlantic Avenue, called the Atlantic corridor.  The project was to remove and replace 3,352 square feet of damaged sidewalk and plant a tree in each of the eleven (11) newly installed tree wells.  The goal was to give training on a viable working trade in a real world environment and was done in four phases:

1. Orient the youths with the various aspects of the concrete trade: safety, traffic, tools, equipment and concrete finishing. 
2. Observe City staff in the installation of concrete.
3. Provide hands on experience, with the help of City Crews, in setting up, backfilling, sledge hammering, jack hammering, laying down concrete, concrete finishing and training as the ground person behind a backhoe.
4. Create a planting hole, plant and stake young trees.

This year, Jeff Porch, Supervisor, and his staff that included James Gunckel, Willie Owens, Michael Winters, Victor Haney, Javier Perez, Mohamed Samad, Mercedes Diggs, Phillip Rios and Yvette Delong-Haywood.  They assisted in teaching these young persons the skills and knowledge needed to construct a concrete sidewalk and the technique for planting and securing new trees.  The Engineering Bureau would like to thank the staff for their efforts and willingness to share their knowledge with the next generation of street maintenance professionals.