Help wanted. V.I. National Park will again this summer hire 14 youths and three youth leaders for its summer Youth Conservation Corps program.
The YCC Program provides an opportunity for youths to be employed for eight weeks while gaining an understanding and appreciation about the conservation mission for the National Park Service.
Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove said, “It gives the kids an internship right in their own back yard.”
He said participants explore many aspects of the park while getting paid and trying out their skills. Hardgrove hopes that some of the youths will go on to work for the park.
Hardgrove said the YCC participants do many park jobs that would otherwise not get done. For example, he said that the YCC youths clean up the bush around the Reef Bay Greathouse to make it accessible to visitors.
YCC participants will earn $7.25 an hour. Youth Leaders earn $8.34 an hour.
The eight-week program begins June 25 and ends Aug. 17.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, or have permanent residency status, and be 15 to 18 years old when the program begins. Hardgrove said youths who will be turn 19 during the program can still apply.
Interested youths may pick up an application at the park visitor center in Cruz Bay between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from April 30 thru May 18. Selections will be made by random drawing.
For more information, contact administrative officer Vanessa Taliaferro-Robinson at 776-6201 ext. 260.
