Dayton has experienced significant job growth over the last 10 years, Mims said, so much of the reasoning behind Wednesday’s youth summit and the new youth commission is focused on keeping youth in Dayton to fill positions once current employees start retiring.
“We’re looking at the fact that we have Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where 50% of its employees will be retiring in the next five years. We need replacements for them. We’re looking at the aircraft-related jobs we have at the airport. We need replacement for those individuals in those spaces as well,” Mims said.
Learn to Earn Dayton will be partnering with Dayton schools and higher education in the county to form a youth co-created vision for the city of Dayton, said Stacy Schweikhart, CEO of Learn to Earn Dayton. This vision includes engaging with local teens and youth to learn what will keep Dayton in their minds for their futures.
“What we will be doing in the coming weeks and months is gathering young people, many of them who are here today. We’re going to encourage them to bring their friends for listening sessions and focus groups. They will create the priorities. They will determine the strategies. They will write the action plans, and they will own making the vision for their future reality,” Schweikhart said.
Following these focus groups, area youth will form the Mayor’s Youth Commission, which will be a team of young people who will create and pursue their vision for the future of Dayton.
“For too long, adults have decided what youth need, where they need it, and how they need it, and we know that our young people know what they need, what their friends need, what their neighbors need, what their neighborhoods need, what their school needs, what they want to do in their leisure time, what it’s going to take for them to get great employment in living wage jobs staying right here in Dayton,” Schweikhart said.
Learn to Earn is targeting students from Dayton Public Schools, Dayton Early College Academy, Dayton International School, and Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School to be a part of this youth commission. The timeline for the formation of this commission is still up in the air, but topics are expected to include anything that affects young people, Mims said, such as health, well-being, and recreation.
“Many times they’re not being heard,” Mims said.
“It’s good that people are listening to us,” said Jaden Ware, a Chaminade Julienne student who spoke at the end of the announcement, along with student Arielle Hancock, about the impact of this commission on area youth, including how this shows adults care about what impacts them.
“A lot of teens our age struggle with their voice, and they need people to be there with them and to know that adults are there and that they care. Young people deal with all types of trauma and mental health issues a lot in our world, especially at our age, so starting this and bringing us together really helps us,” Ware said.
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