Growth opportunities for young workers
Dontavious Thornton looms large at Sonward Youth Programs in New Kensington.
The 15-year-old helps mentor first- and second-graders, mostly in the morning, during the eight-week program. He’s often the first person a young learner sees when entering the brightly colored basement filled with craft tables and activities. As the child’s grown-up signs them in, Dontavious folds his 6-foot-3 frame downward to meet the camper at eye level and offers a healthy snack to start the day.
“There’s normally a group of the younger kids that fancy being with me,” Dontavious says with a smile. “So I tend to hang out with them.” This morning, one of the younger kids was feeling anxious so Dontavious sat with him in a darkened room chatting softly until the anxiety lifted.
As part of its mission, Sonward provides two levels of workforce development for students as early as fourth grade. While employment numbers have improved in many parts of Pennsylvania, employment in New Kensington declined nearly 7%.
“A lot of kids in our programs don’t see parents going to work every day,” says Kim Louis, founding director of Sonward. “Our goal is to narrow the wealth gap in our community. We want to raise expectations and instill values of personal responsibility and entrepreneurship.”
After completing his mentoring duties in the morning, Dontavious shifts gears to take advantage of a new opportunity to learn skills and make some spending money. He teams up with other “yard ninjas” to beautify and provide landscaping for jobs that have been contracted through Sonward.
The yard ninjas’ unofficial motto: “Be quick. Be fast. And nobody sees you.”
“I love working with my hands,” says Dontavious, who is gearing up for Valley High School Vocational Technical Training. “When I get to Vo-Tech this year, I’m going for carpentry or auto mechanics. They don’t offer what I really want to do, which is landscape architecture.
“But my real dream is to build houses with my dad someday.”
The yard ninja program pays well by area standards. By founding the program, Louis wants to raise expectations that her graduates should command a living wage when they enter the workforce.
With his salary, Dontavious pays for his football equipment and expenses out of his own pocket as well as for extra food for him and his brother. The rest he saves for the future.
“Football is a fun thing to do,” Dontavious says. “But I’m trying to build a career.”
Sonward Youth Programs recently concluded its second year with funding from a United Way grant. According to founder Kim Louis, United Way has “really challenged us to innovate and try new things.” United Way provided all 14 Sonward staff members with social and emotional learning (SEL) training, which Louis described as “extremely inspiring” and said that it “empowered us to do better at our jobs.”