New Millcreek initiative aims to expose youth to diverse career paths

MILLCREEK — The city of Millcreek is on a mission to invest in its community and help set its youth on the path to career fields that they may be interested in.

The city launched its Millcreek Promise Program in 2018, a collaborative effort with United Way of Salt Lake, with the intent of supporting residents through a myriad of programs and services to provide various resources in health, education and economic well-being for residents.

As an extension of that program, Kayla Mayers, program manager for Millcreek Promise, said they wanted to look for ways to implement more career exploration programs.

After a meeting with local businesses, former Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini, Millcreek’s Business Council Chair Michael Gura, and the promise program, Mayers said the idea for the Millcreek Futures initiative was sparked.

“The whole goal was to showcase to kids that there are unique pathways to different jobs,” she told KSL.com.

Mayers said she, like others, didn’t follow a straight and narrow path to get to where they are, and believes it can be inspiring for students to hear different perspectives of how people landed their careers.

“I think when you’re a kid, you might look at an adult and see them as someone who has it all together and has a career — and maybe it seems unattainable, but we all had weird ways to get to where we are today,” she said.

Millcreek Futures was recently implemented during the summer and builds off of the promise program by providing opportunities for students to get an inside look at jobs across numerous industries.

Field trips are organized for students to see what it takes to perform jobs in industries they want to know more about, and the different aspects of the business, or organizations.

Recent trips have included visits to St. Mark’s Hospital to learn about health care, the Millcreek City Hall with members of the Unified Police Department to explore a career in law enforcement, and the Porsche dealership to learn the automotive industry.

The career exploration program also aims to provide students with insight about what it takes to obtain certain jobs; such as needed higher education, background and training.

Kristy Parajuli, Millcreek Promise Education coordinator, said many local businesses and organizations have strong connections with the program, through the Millcreek Business Council, so that was helpful in getting the Millcreek Futures initiative off the ground.

“I think that brought a strong point to this program, because if you have people passionate about it, then the students are more engaged,” she said. “There’s more information to be shared, so I think that was very like a unique aspect of this program too, that businesses are like on board, and they want to continue to be part of this program.”

Mayers said Millcreek Futures was piloted this year with just under 100 students from Utah International Charter School.

They plan to open it up to more students in the spring through a mentorship program with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. She said talks are also underway with the Granite School District to explore ways on how to expand Millcreek Futures, through their existing programs.

Mayers said she hopes the initiative will lead students on a path to a fulfilling career, despite any detours and obstacles it may take to achieve it.

“My hope is that this will lead to internships, which will lead to careers for them, potentially with these networks that they’ve made — they’ll be able to get a job that they have a passion for and can make some money doing it, too.”