Over a hundred local students started their spring vacation on a basketball court in Springfield – lining up shots and hopefully a summer job.
Basketball season at American International College ended in February, but AIC’s gym was packed Monday as dozens of teens dribbled up and down the court.
It was all part of the 9th annual “Hoop Up Springfield" basketball tournament and summer job fair event organized by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, partnering again with AIC to make it happen.
Organizers say about 150 students registered. Among them was 15-year-old Raheem Campbell, making the rounds with some of his fellow Putnam Vocational classmates.
“Basically, we came, we went on a tour, and then we learned a little about the jobs they have to offer at the job fair … things about the college and stuff like that,” he said.
Organized soon after he took office in 2015, District Attorney Anthony Gulluni says the event focuses on engaging kids while they’re off from school – keeping idle hands busy while also connecting them with a college that, for many, is right in their backyard.
Mike Lavato, AIC’s Senior Associate Athletic Director, says the event has much to offer – a tour of the facilities, meeting potential employers, and the structure that comes with sport.
“This happens every Patriots’ Day here at AIC - it's a great event, helps our young folks in the community to learn some leadership, mentor, get, hopefully, a summer job and then go into a 3-on-3 tournament,” he said as AIC basketball players helped lead drills beside him. “It has grown exponentially over the nine years that we've had it. The first year was kind of a little get together-type of thing and now we're kind of full rolling here - press play, and we're good to go every year.”
The event culminates in a massive 3-on-3 tournament, in addition to a cheerleading clinic and performance.
But before many take to the court – there’s the job fair. Sectioned off to the side, teens are tasked with visiting about a dozen tables featuring local employers and summer job opportunities.
15-year-old Brandon Hurtado tells WAMC he was hoping to lock in something interesting.
“I’m looking for a job right now, to see what I can do that just excites me,” he said, adding that the booth for the Big E was promising, as did a Scouting America booth, highlighting the Moses Scout Reservation in Russell, Massachusetts.
Standing with him and Campbell was 16-year-old Adrian Zelaya, who says a job at a local theme park looked good – as did one booth that wasn’t quite like the others.
“Six Flags and DJing,” he told WAMC when asked which companies stood out the most.
Setting up shop with a digital turntable was Justin Bousquet, a DJ and Head of Marketing for Rob Alberti’s Event Services. With a soundboard sporting gold-painted nobs, two digital “platters” for mixing tunes and other equipment, Bousquet says kids are always interested in the apparatus and learning the career paths that can come with it.
“We're trying to take anybody with little experience, maybe a little bit of music experience, and trying to teach them the ropes of how to be a DJ out in the world, how to work weddings, how to do school dances, how to do proms, stuff like that,” he said. “We just want to start getting the kids involved and start having them learn - hopefully they can kind of do this, like we do!”
The fair lasted a few hours – with basketball drills and the tournament taking precedence after that.
Ultimately, Gulluni tells WAMC, the community outreach aims to give local students something fun to do while also showing what kinds of careers are on the horizon – whether it’s a summer job at Big Y or someday enrolling in the Springfield Police Department’s cadet program.
“… and that’s a really important thing - for public safety … for these kids’ maturation - is to have a job, and maybe that job is something that turns into a career or it's their first job, and they say, ‘Gee, I like getting a check on a Friday,’ and that changes their trajectory and they enter school in the fall, maybe, with a different disposition,” the DA said. “It's really a fun day, to have this day off here on Patriots’ Day, but we get these kids in here with basketball, with a great tournament, and they learn some important stuff, and they - potentially make a connection with an employer that could be a yearslong engagement or maybe a lifetime engagement.”
