LYNN — The Department of Parks and Recreation has announced it is looking to hire young adults for the summer to work with children who have special needs.
The department announced Friday that it is looking to hire camp counselors, supervisors and clinic instructors for Lynn’s Special Needs Summer Camp. Counselors and supervisors will create different events and activities for children 6 to 16 years old. These activities include recreational sports, water-based games and field trips across the North Shore.
Lisa Nerich, the Department of Public Works (DPW) associate commissioner, is in charge of the youth summer jobs program. She said this provides a great experience for young adults who are interested in careers that involve working with children.
“We have had this parks program for many years,” Nerich said. “We will be holding camp at 10 different city playgrounds throughout the summer.”
Additionally, Nerich said, the University of Massachusetts will provide a nutrition program that teaches children about fitness and eating healthy.
“They do little food projects for the kids,” she said. “They would show them food demos, identify different fruits and vegetables, and teach them about how to stay healthy.”
Nerich said on average, 50 job applications are filed each year. She said high school and college students are welcome to apply and hopes multiple candidates are interested in working with the department.
“We didn’t have the summer program in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “We did have it in 2021 and I hope we have many applicants this year.”
This year, the DPW will be doing additional outreach to hire multilingual young adults for the first time in the program’s history. The department posted a job flier on Facebook Friday afternoon in English and Spanish.
Nerich said the multilingual outreach campaign was from Mayor Jared Nicholson’s office, which wants to provide more opportunities for non-English and multilingual speakers in Lynn.
“We are also doing other means of outreach,” Nerich said. “We’ve been reaching out to people online, in the paper, on Lynn Community Television and promoting it in the Lynn public-school system. This is the first time we have reached out in different languages.”
The program runs Monday through Friday from 9 a.m to 3 p.m, starting on July 5 and ending on Aug. 5.
The counselor and clinic instructor positions pay $14.25 an hour and the supervisor position pays $17 an hour. Those who wish to apply must be 17 to 21 years of age.
Nerich said all applications must be submitted to the DPW by Friday, May 13.
