Clay High School Students Offered Summer Job Program

Clay County High School students can earn up to $4,000 over eight weeks this summer through a new Youth Employment Program.

Clay County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Doug Young said the chamber is working alongside the American Job Center to offer the program. He said Clay County is the only distressed county in the Upper Cumberland, largely due to high unemployment rates.

“This will give them the opportunity to get a taste of whatever vocation they might want to enter,” Young said. “And just as important, it might not taste good to them, and they might find out that that’s not really what they wanted to do.”

The program will provide full funding and liability insurance for employers. Young said students 14 years old or older may sign up, as well as adults up to age 24. He said many students need summer work to support themselves and their families. He said young adults have a chance to gain valuable work experience fresh out of college.

“That’ll be a great economic boost for them, but an economic boost for our entire county to have those kids earning that money and, hopefully, spending a good amount of that money right back in Clay County,” Young said.

Young said the American Job Center is providing the funds and Clay County High School is working directly with students to get them signed up. He said the chamber already has some 15 employers signed up to offer work. He said at no price to employers, this is a great way to get young people out into the workforce.

“This goes all the way back to the whole seed of programs we had 30-40 years ago,” Young said, “And this is a little bit different from those programs or a whole lot different. But it provides these kids with a real opportunity to have meaningful work experience this summer. That’s the important thing.”

He said even if a student or young college graduate participates and learns that the career path they chose may not be for them, the program can function as a resume builder and help more money flow freely through Clay County.