Summer is officially here and that means thousands of young Washingtonians are busy participating in the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off the 38th year of the program at Madame Tussauds, where several participants will work this summer.
In 2015, Bowser introduced legislation to expand the program to include young Washingtonians between the ages of 22 and 24, and this year, the expansion became permanent.
This summer, nearly 13,000 participants ages 14 to 24 will work in more than 800 private sector and government work sites across the District.
The Bowser administration will also select 25 program participants to receive the mayor’s Opportunity Student Scholarship, which awards $2,000 towards post-secondary education, military or occupational training.
Scholarships will be awarded On Aug. 4 at the closing ceremony for the Barry summer-jobs program at Eastern Senior High in Northeast D.C.