Giving students valuable experience

Queens Community House and their Young Adults Borough Center (YABC) are working with students to help them get an education and work experience that will benefit them in the future.
In order to be eligible to participate in YABC programs, students must be 17-and-a-half years old with a minimum of 17 high school credits and have spent at least four years in high school. Participants learn to work through internships that are both on-site and off-site. Some of the on-site internships are in areas such as computers, music and art. The off-site internships can place students anywhere from the office of a Congressmember to a zoo to a library.
YABC also offers tutoring, GED preparation and academic support to the students. They even give the students a counselor who works one-on-one with them.
“I think working with over-age, under-credited youth is really a need for students since going to day school didn’t work for a lot of them,” said Barbara Tominovich, who is the director of YABC at John Adams High School in Ozone Park.
During vacations throughout the school year, Tominovich said that they try to offer various activities for the students to participate in, such as going to plays, skating, and playing laser tag, among others.
Each school year, there can be up to 300 students in the program. Tominovich said that they are a small program that provides students with a very nurturing environment.
“It’s kind of like their own little family,” she said. “It creates a really positive environment.”
Through their participation in YABC programs, Tominovich said that the students gain many skills that they did not have before. Along with obtaining working experience, she said the students begin to see school as a positive thing, develop relationships, and start to think more positively about themselves and their future, including thinking about college and setting goals.
“I think it’s really had a very positive impact on a lot of students,” Tominovich said.
Tominovich said that the most rewarding part of her work is knowing that they are providing a safe place for the students to go to. She also said that it is nice to know that her staff is there for the students and that they have someone to talk to.
YABC at John Adams High School is located at 101-01 Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park and is now enrolling students. For more information on how to register, contact them at 718-322-1967.