MILWAUKEE — There’s a push to get more teenagers working over the summer, but it comes at a tough time.

The number of jobs secured by teens fell 25% last summer compared to the summer of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That trend seems to be continuing, as many services that help place people in jobs report that there are even fewer opportunities for teens this summer.

Milwaukee County, city and school district leaders are working to change that by offering paid internships to high school students.

Spectrum News met up with some of them at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) where they take some job-related classes before starting their internships.

Milwaukee Public School student, Keira Cruz, got into the hospitality and tourism internship.

“I wanted to learn more from it and maybe in the future, become an event planner,” said Cruz, who’s going into her senior year at South Division High School.

Across campus, another group of MPS students is learning how to make their own professional pages and search for jobs on LinkedIn.

“There’s so much stuff out here that you could do to end up where you want to be,” said Mahogonie Wright, who attends James Madison Academic Campus and wants to pursue a career in healthcare. “It’s a pleasure to be able to do anything that, you know, enhances my possible career choices.”

After some classroom preparation, students are paired with a local company, small business, nonprofit or city/county office for seven weeks.

The goal is to match them in the field they’re interested in. This is tied to Employ Milwaukee’s Earn and Learn program.

Teens work 20 hours per week and earn a wage of about $12 an hour.

“It creates a better sense of self for that student,” said Emily Brown, internship coordinator for MPS. “A better sense of purpose, so that hopefully one day they will find their passion.”

Brown said students must demonstrate a commitment before being accepted into the program.

“If we can’t see that you’re coming to school every day, how are we going to know that you’re going to go to that internship or opportunity every day?” she asked.

Paid summer internships for teenagers are in high demand, as fewer employers are hiring seasonal workers.

Brown doesn’t want to turn interested students away, but growth of the internship program is reliant on public and private grants, donations and businesses willing to participate.

“We’re always looking for additional partnerships so that students can extend what they learn in the classroom into the real world,” Brown said.

Both Kiera and Mohagonie acknowledged that these opportunities give them something productive to do while they’re out of school. They’d like to see all Milwaukee high schoolers get this chance.

Garrett Stallings was in position to hit a pretty big milestone with Class AAA Nashville.

“Someone told me this week I would have hit my 600th minor-league inning, which is kind of crazy for someone who hadn’t made it to The Show yet,” Stallings said on Tuesday – but from the Milwaukee Brewers dugout at American Family Field after the right-hander had been selected to the 26-man roster.

“But the whole time I’ve kind of put my head down and continued to go at it, and the work’s really paid off.”

Stallings, 28, was in the midst of his best minor-league season to date with the Sounds, posting a 3-3 record and 3.45 ERA in 16 appearances (12 starts) and 59 strikeouts in 62 ⅔ innings. His last six outings have been starts, but with the Brewers he’ll join a bullpen group that’s been ridden hard in recent weeks.

“Really, just learned how to be a reliever really quickly,” said Stallings when asked how things changed for him with Milwaukee. Originally a fifth-round pick of the Angels out of the University of Tennessee in 2019, he was traded the following year to the Orioles and then to the Brewers in 2024 in exchange for right-hander Thyago Vieira and minor-leaguer Aneuris Rodriguez.

Stallings re-signed with the Brewers as a minor-league free agent in the offseason after pitching in a career-high 30 games in 2025

“I’d been a starter my whole career, and just continued to be adaptable,” he continued. “In order to get your name called you can’t just tailor to one thing. That’s really helped broaden my horizons in the game, and as many different situations you can be in, it’s helped me just adapt to the game and keep my head up and be the best version of myself.”

Stallings lacks the electric fastball and truly nasty stuff that defines so many pitchers these days, instead relying upon moxie and a willingness to try new things.

“I’ve always been a throw-every-type-of-pitch (guy),” he said. “I’ll tinker this side of the rubber or this side and I’m always one that will always at least try new things to see if I can get that edge. I think if anything, the experience of throwing 600 minor-league innings you learn a lot along the way. And it comes with failure, too.

“It hasn’t always been the easiest path. But this year I feel like I’ve just been able to keep getting a little bit better.”

Stallings joked that he’s felt at times like he’s been the best player in the minor leagues and at other times the worst, with the cumulative experiences helping shape him into a reliever being asked to contribute outs whenever he receives the opportunity.

“I talked to him today,” said manager Pat Murphy. “That’s the best part. You get to sit here and let those guys come in, knowing how he grinded and stuck with it and hung with it and probably didn’t believe for a while that he would (make it).

“Then, to finally believe and get that phone call, I immediately think about his mom and dad, He’s got a fiancee, his brother and sister are coming. That’s really cool, and even cooler when he gets up (to pitch).”

Stallings, a native of Chesapeake, Va., could receive that chance as soon as tonight as the Brewers try for their fifth win in as many games against the Cincinnati Reds this season.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Stallings becomes the 45th player to appear on Milwaukee’s active roster this season and seeks to become the sixth to make his major league debut.

To clear space on the 26-man roster, left-hander Robert Gasser was optioned to the rookie Arizona Complex League Brewers, a procedural move that will allow him to be available July 7 when Milwaukee will need extra starting pitching for its doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Steve Czaban, a popular radio fixture on Milwaukee sports-talk airwaves, is back in the market with the announcement from the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network that he’ll host an hour-long morning show with Josh Albrecht soon.

The show will run from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on 105.7 FM and 1250-AM “The Fan” in Milwaukee. The network, established last October, also features stations in Green Bay/Appleton (99.7 FM, 101.9 FM), Wausau (93.9 FM), Madison (94.9 FM) and Duluth/Superior (710 AM).

Czaban, whose role as host of a morning show on 97.3 The Game was eliminated with iHeartRadio’s decision to end that station’s sports-talk format, hasn’t been on the air in Milwaukee since October.

His show somewhat takes the place of Trevor Thomas’s “Inside Wisconsin Sports,” a licensed property that will continue to broadcast within its usual 6 to 9 a.m. slot from its Green Bay home despite ending its partnership with the Wisconsin Sports Network, seemingly amicably. Thomas has been hosting with Albrecht, and their final show together was scheduled for June 30.

Thomas wrote on social media that he notified Audacy Milwaukee in March that he’d like to end the partnership, delaying his announcement until WSSP had a replacement lined up. Thomas said his show will still be heard on WNFL 99.7 FM in Green Bay and on YouTube.

“Changes are made in radio with little to no explanation because employees sign paperwork that, if they get let go, muzzles them in order to receive their severance pay. Probably not uncommon in other businesses as well,” Thomas wrote on X, responding to one commenter who noted it’s rare for changes in radio to receive full transparency.