Philadelphia School District alum is the first city hire through new program
The program is aimed at helping Philadelphia students in trade schools get jobs with the city.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Nineteen-year-old Tyrek Johnson's first love has always been cars.
He learned the trade at Jules E. Mastbaum AVTS High School in Philadelphia.
Now he's the city's first hire through the new Automotive Technology Career and Technical Education (CTE) five-point preference program, which is aimed at helping Philadelphia students in trade schools get jobs with the city.
"I will be fixing all the police cars. I'll be fixing a bunch of other city cars, event vehicles and make sure they are all working order," said Johnson.
He says this is a dream job. He'll be working as an auto trades helper in the Department of Fleet Services for the city. It's all thanks to the skills he learned at his high school.
(It) gives career and technical education graduates in Philadelphia a preference for city jobs, somewhat similar to veterans.
"I'm so excited about Tyrek because he is exactly the type of student, or young person, that I had in mind when we crafted this legislation in 2020," said Philadelphia City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson.
Gilmore Richardson says that the initiative was approved by voters in the fall of 2022 and went into effect last May.
She says this helps address the 1 in 5 vacancies in every department across the city right now.
"It helps us to create a pathway and a pipeline from school directly to city employment and helps us fill vacancies and allow young people in the city to provide service back to city," she said.
Johnson starts work on January 16.
