How Minneapolis teens are battling the heat to take care of city parks

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s definitely a good day to relax by a pool or lake, but for a team of young workers, duty calls and their summer jobs are no walk in the park.

They were hired by Minneapolis Park and Rec as part of their youth employment and training program: Teen Teamworks.

“They invest in their neighborhoods by helping to maintain not only keeping things clean but do the weeding, edging, some mowing some pruning,” said Youth Employment Training Supervisor Crystal Brinkman. 

The program employs more than 250 people, 180 of whom are responsible for taking care of parks around Minneapolis. Roughly 150 of them work outside.

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Brinkman says keeping these young people cool during the hottest part of the day is priority.

“This is also part of the training: How do you take care of yourself when it’s hot out – how do we take care of each other when it’s hot out,” said Brinkman. 

“A lot of scary stuff can happen in the heat, and you wouldn’t even know like heat stroke or anything so you always got to check up on your team make sure they’re good,” said DeShawan McCollum.

These teens learn what needs to be done to make sure their team can beat the heat.

“We get like five minute breaks every 15 or 20 minutes and we get water we have a cooler full of ice and water to keep us hydrated,” said Noah Wickland.

A frozen treat can also help cool down on these hot days. They also break from the sun by heading into a classroom, where life skills are taught.

“Financial literacy is a big part of it. Bank accounts, how to manage your money, what is credit, what is a credit score and we do that in the afternoons strategically to give them a break from being outside,” said Brinkman.

Teen Teamworks has been around since 1986. Supervisors believe this year has been the worse when it comes to dealing with air quality and hot temperatures.