Student jobs program kicks off

Now the 18-year-old graduate of the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science in Roxbury is headed to St. Francis College in New York, and credits her success to a citywide jobs program for high school students.

“I realized that being shy doesn’t get you anywhere when you need to get something done,’’ Edwards said.

After spending two summers working for the Institute of Contemporary Art, she has big plans.

“When I grow up, I’m going to be a senator,’’ Edwards said. “And not because of the publicity or the paycheck, but because I’m down for the cause.’’

City and business leaders yesterday gathered at Boston University for the kickoff of the MLK Summer Scholars program, which employs about 600 Boston students at 80 businesses, including John Hancock Financial Services, The Boston Globe, and the South Boston Boys and Girls Club.

The program, which is providing jobs to 100 more students than last summer, is funded with $1 million from John Hancock, said Carol Fulp, vice president of community relations at John Hancock.

Two hundred students, all wearing yellow T-shirts, attended the program’s kickoff yesterday. Students have been hired to work a variety of jobs, ranging from working with children in community centers across the city to performing administrative work in offices.

Robert A. Brown, the president of Boston University, said the program - which brings the students to the school every Friday morning for classes in leadership, personal finance, and finding employment - can help make a college a realistic goal.

“As youth, you look at these universities as ivory towers and ask yourself, ‘Do I fit in?’ ’’ Brown said in an interview after the event. “And just getting them here for meetings, that’s the first hurdle.’’

Mayor Thomas M. Menino urged students to take advantage of their jobs and learn from the professionals they work with on a day-to-day basis. He told the teens this summer could have a definite impact on their future.

“I don’t care where you come from, what language you speak, what language your parents speak, or the grades you get,’’ he said. “You don’t have to be on the honor roll. You just have to be a good person and a hard worker.’’

Teens with jobs are far less likely to get into trouble, said Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis.

He said the summer job program is a complement to ongoing community policing efforts.

“I want to meet all of you, but this is the setting I want to meet all of you in,’’ Davis said. “The more you get involved in business . . . the less I have to do.’’

P. Steven Ainsley, the publisher of the Globe, which helped organize the program, said working to employ teens is part of the newspaper’s public service mission. “This program fits perfectly with the Globe’s community mission of responding to the needs of our city’s youth,’’ he said.

The program is named after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who earned his doctorate at BU.

“I’m certain Martin Luther King would be proud that we are not only training future workers, but the next generation of civic leaders,’’ said John D. DesPrez, the president and chief executive of John Hancock.