Paid Summer Jobs Help Key West Students Build Skills, Explore Careers

Fourteen Key West High School students are gaining valuable workplace experience this summer through A Positive Step of Monroe County’s (APSMC) Idle Hands Summer Youth Employment Program, a long-running partnership with the City of Key West that provides local teens with paid jobs while helping them prepare for their futures.

Since 2010, APSMC, a nonprofit founded by youth and family advocate Billy Davis, has connected KWHS students ages 16 and older who are returning to school in the fall with meaningful summer employment in City departments. This year’s program runs through July 31, with students working in Engineering/ Multimodal Transportation, Community Services, Transit, the Key West City Cemetery, and the Key West Police Department.

Among this summer’s participants are 16-year-olds Monea Mcleod and Zaylee Hayes, both rising juniors at KWHS. The two students are interning with City of Key West Multimodal Transportation Coordinator Ryan Stachurski, gaining firsthand experience in local government, building professional skills they’ll carry into college and their future careers, and seeing how municipal government serves the community.

Mcleod, who is involved in tennis and weightlifting and serves as manager of the school’s girls basketball team, seeks to build a career in sports medicine. “I’m really big on sports,” she said. “I appreciate how the human body can recover if you give it enough time.” To prepare, she looks forward to anatomy and biomedical courses while in high school.

Hayes, a sideline and competitive cheerleader, treasurer of the class of 2028, and active member of several school clubs, plans to study nursing after high school and hopes to attend the University of Florida.

“Every summer, these students remind us just how much talent, determination, and potential our community has,” said Davis, who also serves as APSMC executive director. “Watching them show up eager to learn, take on new responsibilities, and begin shaping their futures is incredibly inspiring. They give all of us reason to be optimistic about the future.”

Operating the Idle Hands Summer Youth Employment Program costs approximately $100,000 each year. The City of Key West contributes $35,000 toward student payroll, while APSMC raises the balance through community donations, grants, corporate support, and fundraising events.

Community members can help sustain the program by attending a special, limited-ticket fundraising dinner on Saturday, July 18, at the Key West Cooking School, 291 Front St., Suite 207. The event, which begins at 7:30PM, features an interactive culinary experience where guests enjoy a multi-course meal while chefs prepare each dish and share the stories behind them.

For tickets to the Key West Cooking School fundraising event along with more information about A Positive Step of Monroe County, visit www.apsmc.org.  Questions: contact Billy Davis at 305-304-1969 or APSMCCRP@aol.com.

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