In the wake of Mayor Bill De Blasio’s decision to eliminate the Summer Youth Employment Program, ExpandED Schools is proud to unveil the Youth Empowerment Summer Plan (YES), a reimagined system that would enable the city to provide remote work for 40,000 teens from communities hardest hit by the Coronavirus pandemic.

ExpandED Schools stands with the Black community and the protesters in opposing racial injustice in all of its manifestations.

About 10 years ago, the National Center for Education Statistics found that 65% of American high schools had some career-oriented program, but that most only consisted of job-shadowing or no-skill internships. Over the next decade, Bob Schwartz, a professor emeritus of practice in educational policy and administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education, would like to see 100% of high schools students participating in robust, skill-developing, work-based learning (WBL) programs. Even in the age of the coronavirus, Bob told ExpandED in a recent interview, technological innovations make it possible to give young people experiences that will help prepare for careers and bolster the workforce.

Meet Jacob Moore, a 23-year-old Pathways Fellow who is on his way to becoming a teacher. Despite personal setbacks and the economic shake-up caused by Covid-19, Moore is determined to stay the course and apply to a master's program in education. Moore attributes his decision to go into teaching to the mentorship and training the Pathways Fellowship provided.