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Kymelya Sari was a Seven Days staff writer 2015-19.

James Kochalka was the first cartoonist laureate of Vermont. The Cartoon Issue cover shows two of his characters: Banana Fox from Banana Fox and the Secret Sour Society, published by Graphix, and Squiggle from the Eisner Award-winning Johnny Boo series,...

4 replies on “Spectrum Launches a Car-Detailing Biz for Youth”

  1. Didn’t several car detailing places in the area close recently? Seems to me this non profit could better spend their donations on job training for skills that will help those teens get actual jobs.

  2. Thanks for the comment, Buddy. The car detailing business was started precisely to do what you suggest – provide on-the-job training so that our teens can get (and keep) jobs. As you see in the first panel, we were finding that while we could get our youth jobs very easily, they needed more support in learning how to keep them. Alongside the ins and outs of the business itself, we use a proven curriculum that focuses on things like attendance, appearance, and attitude – all things youth need to get and keep a job, and the car detailing business gives them the space and coaching to practice all of these skills before moving on to jobs in the community.

  3. Wasn’t there an article on Spectrum doing detailing for police cars? There is a picture of an ambulance in the comic. From what I understand, working vehicles need to be in tip top shape, so there is a good client base! Do they do fire trucks too? I know fire trucks need a lot of cleaning and care. I bet the youths get to meet some great leaders and role models on the job! I also know that some teens come to fear police officers, or might be nervous of people in positions of power and authority. Getting a “thank you, you did a great job!” from a police officers builds trust and a positive relationship, and shows both parties that they can get along and contribute positively to a community they may not have always trusted.

  4. DETAIL WORKS is far more than a job! Not all young people are fortunate to have had an appreciated experiential learning—IMHO, Detail Works sure seems like they have a good/successful handle on helping a number of them with polishing (!!!!) social & work related skills, getting on-track and/or catching up, and helping them help themselves find opportunities to move on up the ladder in a healthy, supportive & concerned environment. We all started somewhere—sincere congratulations to all who help make it work! 😉

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