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On Valley Edition: Grad task force; summer jobs; health conference

This week on Valley Edition, we talk about the work being done by Fresno Unified's Graduation Task Force, which is working to slow the dropout rate in the district. We also talk about the challenges kids today face in getting a summer job, and learn more about a health conference in west Fresno.

Valley Edition for June 12, 2012:

Segment 1: FUSD Grad Task Force
Earlier this Spring, the Fresno Unified School District established a community task force to provide the district with recommendations to help solve the district's dropout problems. FM89's Juanita Stevenson reports on how residents offered their input to the task force at a recent meeting, and talks with task force chair Juan Arambula, and recent Roosevelt High School graduate and task force member Mariam Hernandez.

Segment 2: Summer Jobs It used to be a rite of passage for teens, getting a summer job at a fast food restaurant or the mall. But with an economy that continues to struggle, the state's teen unemployment rate is around 36 percent. But there are several new programs that aim to help teens get a taste of life in the workforce, and local companies that are working with non-profits and the government on this issue. Juanita Stevenson reports on how a summer job changed one teen's life and talks with Boys and Girls Club of Fresno County director Diane Carbray about their summer job training program.

Segment 3: West Fresno Summer Health Conference Yolanda Randals of the West Fresno Resource Center joins us to talk about the organization's upcoming Summer Health Conference, which aims to use team double dutch (jumping rope) to get youth involved in preventing obesity.

Juanita Stevenson has lived and worked in Fresno for the past 24 years. She is perhaps best known to Valley residents as a longtime reporter and news anchor with local television station ABC30, and has also worked at stations KJWL, KYNO and ValleyPBS. She is the recipient of the 2001 Associated Press Award for Best Reporting, and the 1997 Radio & Television News Directors Association Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Best Reporting.