The Saint Paul Police Department has rolled out its summer Trades Academy Program, designed to offer high school students paid summer internships and a taste of various trades. According to a social media post by the department, the program this year includes 22 students and aims to equip them with valuable life skills and potential career paths.
The initiative received a philanthropic boost with a contribution from local benefactor Tony Scheuerman, ensuring that all participants were fitted with work boots for their hands-on training sessions, addressing not just the training but also the practical necessities of the trade environment. Sergeant Toy Vixayvong and Officer Jim Lee were the bearers of goodwill, hand-delivering the boots to the students, an act reflecting community support and the nurturing of budding talent within the workforce, and their mornings came with a side of leather-and-rubber optimism…