Service Year program graduates first class of workers with skills, experience

Gov. Wes Moore (D) speaks to the Maryland Corps and Service Year cohort at their Camden Yards graduation ceremony. Photo by Elijah Pittman

One will go to the military, another will continue his education and a third plans to continue on with an organization that works to combat the poverty-to-prison pipeline.

They were just some of the 231 members who were among the inaugural class of Maryland Corps and Service Year Option graduates who were applauded Tuesday at their commencement ceremony.

“Y’all can have a sense of pride, because generations from now when you see people doing their service years all over the state, y’all can look back and say it started with us,” said Gov. Wes Moore (D) at the event held in Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The programs were among the first priorities of the Moore administration.

The Service Year Option is a first-of-its-kind program that allows recent high school graduates between ages 18 and 21 to complete a year of service at over 100 businesses, agencies, and organizations across the state. It was merged with Maryland Corps, a 2016 program that is open to people of all ages and provides them with vocational training as well.

The service year program was created last year under the Serving Every Region Through Vocational Exploration (SERVE) Act. Sen. Cheryl Kagan, one of the sponsors of the Senate version of the bill, explained some of the value of the service year and the act.

“They were part of a team, and learned how to lead, and to follow, how to be reliable, and this sets them up so well for the rest of their lives,” said Kagan, who was also at Tuesday’s event.

“Some are going to go on to further education, some are going to go on to jobs, and a couple told me they’re going to be in the military,” she said.

Justin Peleska, a recent high school graduate who participated in the Service Year program, introduced Moore after speaking to the cohort about his experience in the program.

“I have had the opportunity to serve with the Love Wins Movement in Anne Arundel County, which serves as a local food pantry while also running multiple addiction recovery houses throughout the Glen Burnie area and South Baltimore,” Peleska said.

“Working the distribution line in our food pantry on Thursdays was one of the first things I was introduced to at Love Wins,” he said. “Months later I can say that I saw change and growing happiness within my community, and that’s what counts.”

Moore highlighted a few members of the cohort and their plans for what’s next: A service year graduate named Juan who is going into the Air Force, Trey Taylor from Maryland Corps who will continue his education, and Deja Wilson, also from Maryland Corps, who works with B-360 to combat the poverty to prison pipeline.

Paul Monteiro, the secretary of the Department of Service and Civic Innovation , said in his remarks at the commencement that the program will have more than 500 people starting in September. And he said other states are launching programs like Maryland’s.

“The eyes of the country are watching what we do, Utah has already followed suit, the state of New York has already followed suit, they’ve launched their own Service Year programs,” he said.

Kagan said more states will follow.

“Utah is one year behind us, and then Colorado, Minnesota, California, and New York are among the other states that are working on launching a program but we’ve already had one year of launching a successful cohort,” she said.

Kagan said that next year not only will the program expand, but there will also be a new program.

“Next year, they’re also going to have a climate corps – 50 of the 600 will be working directly or indirectly to address the climate crisis,” Kagan said.

“I think that is really exciting, it doesn’t just train and inspire the young people in the program but it’s actually going to help save our state and our planet,” she said.

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