Northwest Youth Corps - Learning to Paint

Aubrey Belcher, 15, painted trim Tuesday morning on the Northwest Youth Corps headquarters, located just across I-5 at 2621 Augusta St. in Eugene. She and 16-year-old Jim Davis have been painting the building's interior and exterior for the past nine weeks as part of a vocational training program funded by Lane Workforce Partnership in conjunction with Northwest Youth Corps and plan to complete the project next week. The students earn $7.25 per hour and work approximately 24 hours a week. Aubrey, who learned about the opportunity to learn to paint houses from a flyer posted at Springfield High School, has purchased an iPod with her wages.

This is the first time Aubrey has ever painted professionally. Now she feels confident enough to paint her grandmother's living room after Tuesday afternoon's graduation ceremony at Northwest Youth Corps.

Dave Wilson is Aubrey and Jim's crew supervisor, and he is also gaining experience for his future goal of operating his own painting business. He took Aubrey and Jim on field trips to local paint companies to observe how paint was made and to ask questions from the experts.

NYC's building color was not the only thing that has changed over the past nine weeks. Aubrey's name was changed twice. First Dave shortened it to 'Aub.' Then he changed it altogether when he decided to call her 'Bob.' Aubrey/Aub/Bob will be a sophomore at Springfield High School when school starts again this fall.

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