It's morning and already steamy, and Atiya Olloway and Rishard Pelton are in good spirits while hard at work.

Donning a uniform of green T-shirts, with glistening beads of sweat on their foreheads and a pair of large shovels, the Omaha North High School students busily scoop sand from the sidewalk near the playground at Pipal Park.

They're both smiling. It's payday, and they're nearing the end of week six of the nine-week Summer Works program, an offering organized through the University of Nebraska at Omaha that, now in its second year, is putting 150 teenagers - most of whom live in north Omaha - to work at city parks, golf courses and other outdoor venues.

"We get to help clean up the community, so that's been cool," said Pelton. "I wanted to do this this summer to keep me out of trouble and to stay active.

"If I weren't doing this, I'd probably just be laying down in bed, but I'm glad I'm doing this because I'm up early in the morning, workin', then I get to go home and be about my day.