My Summer Working at the Mayor's Office

This summer I was chosen out of many capable young adults to get the honor of working in the Mayor's Office!

Hi, my name is Amber and I am a rising junior with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system. This past year some of my fellow students and I got the chance to meet Council Member Wanda Merschel and ask her questions. After this encounter I decided I wanted to get more active in our local government.

My goal was accomplished this summer with the help of the Mayor's Assistant, Mrs. Linda Barnes, my mom and my grandmother, and Mr. Reginald McCaskill with the Summer Youth Employment Program, sponsored by the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments Workforce Development Program, and the City of Winston-Salem.  Mrs. Barnes and I met through Mr. McCaskill when I was chosen by my peers as the Summer Youth Employment class leader. As class leader I interviewed Mrs. Barnes and introduced her to the other Summer Youth Employment participants.  She talked to us for a while, about her life and responsibilities of her job, and then proceeded to tell Mr. McCaskill that she wanted one of the trainees to come and work at the Mayor's Office. I was blessed enough to be selected for an interveiw, and was informed that I would be working in the Mayor's Office!

My interest for government and politics didn't just start recently either.  When I was younger I wanted to become the President of the United States.  I wanted to be the President because I wanted to be able to change the world, do something that made a difference, and to help people.

But as I got older I realized that even though you were the President, that didn't mean everyone liked you.

The experience of working in the Mayor's office has taught me a lot already about city government.  I have never really thought about how strenuous and how busy the Mayor's calendar is, or how important his job is until I saw how hard he and his Assistant, Mrs. Linda Barnes, and her Assistant, Mrs. Erin Baker, worked everyday in order to help the city run smoothly.

While here I have gotten to meet important people that have either needed the Mayor's help or wanted him to assist in some type of community program. I have made Proclamations, helped answer phone calls from citizens, drank coffee, sorted through the daily mail, assisted with scheduling volunteers for the Summer Feeding Program, looked for articles on the Mayor and helped with office paperwork. I have also seen the Committee Room where the Council Meetings are aired on WSTV 13, the Council Chambers, and the WSTV 13 studio. I am looking forward to helping plan and arrange several upcoming meetings as well.  These are most of the things that I have done so far.  Working here has been fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer here!

The Summer Youth Employment Program gives low- to middle-income teenagers summer jobs.  They teach you how to write a resume, and how to act, dress, and speak during an interveiw.  The SYEP gives teenagers the skills, tools and knowledge needed to get and keep a job. This program not only helps teenagers find a job for the summer, but it also teaches us things that we will need to know for the rest of our working life. The Summer Youth Employment Program gives back to the community by placing teens at private and public worksites, and by investing in our lives now they have secured our future.  To anyone from the ages of 15 to 17 years old, I would definitely recommend that you apply to this program!

I would like to thank everyone I listed for helping me get this job, and especially the Summer Youth Employment Program counselors for accepting me into the program.

Read more about the Summer Youth Employment Program on the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments Workforce Development website!