Three high school students are working this summer at UNMC as part of the citywide Step-Up Omaha! Program.
The program places young adults ages 14-24 in summer employment to allow them to get work experience that can lead to careers or college.
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Michael Hughes’ coworkers show their support. |
“I want to be a physician assistant when I get older, so I thought it would be a good fit to work at the hospital,” Bell said. “I like it a lot.”
Henderson will be entering UNO next month and was looking for good experience and a second job.
And Hughes, who is considering colleges, said he is enjoying his time at UNMC. “It’s been great for me, and the people I work with have been great too,” he said.
Andrew Miller, Hughes’ supervisor, calls him a good worker.
“It’s worked out really well,” Miller said. “It gives him an idea of what’s entailed in grounds maintenance in a large facility like this, and it gives him a lot of work experience running equipment, learning about plants and how we do things to maintain a facility on the outside.
“It’s good experience for him that he can take somewhere else, or, if something works out, he can stay here.”
Evelyn Grixby, who oversees the Step-Up program for UNMC, was equally complimentary about Bell and Henderson.
“Both are doing exceptionally well,” she said. “They are motivated, organized, prompt and professional, and I’m amazed at how young they are to be so disciplined. UNMC benefits from having them on campus, and we’re glad to have them as part of our UNMC family this summer.”
Participating in Step-Up Omaha! is important to UNMC, said Aileen Warren, director of human resources.
“This citywide program has proved to be very beneficial for Omaha, in terms of providing our youth summer opportunities to hone and improve some of their skills and learn new skills, but also provide support from a workforce standpoint for employers,” she said. “UNMC feels very passionately about this initiative and glad to be a part of it.”