According to its staff, YouthBuild's innovative approaches and usable outcome offer a refreshing alternative to government training programs.

The YouthBuild classes are very project-oriented, says Bermudez, who teaches social studies.

"People on welfare are not traditional students so you can't teach them in a traditional way", he says.

An example is Bermudez's latest assignment, "the immigration project."

The project requires each student to interview family members to find out who the first person in his or her family was to come to the U.S.

The student then researches what types of laws affected that family member and presents his or her findings to the class, in the process learning about interviewing skills, speaking skills, political science, structure of government, economics, and his or her own family.

When Ricky found out his girlfriend was pregnant, he wanted to help support her but had no income and no diploma, so he started selling drugs.

His girlfriend applied for YouthBuild but was turned away because she was pregnant.

Around the same time, Ricky was arrested, but was allowed to join Just-a-Start rather than go to jail.

Ricky says the program differs from his South Boston high school, from which he dropped out. There, he says, "I didn't feel I was being taught anything, I was just lost."

Ricky says he expects to earn both his GED and the scholarship, which he intends to use for carpenter training. He says his girlfriend will probably participate in YouthBuild next year after she has had the baby.

Ricky says he is still worried about the immediate future. He says the $150 weekly stipend YouthBuild provides renders his girlfriend ineligible for welfare, but makes it tough to foot the bills.

He says he is dedicated to making it work anyway. "I'm doing it for my kid and my girlfriend," he says.

"And myself," he adds after pausing to think a moment.

The next day, Bermudez oversees the same students as they repaint the New School of Music in Cambridge. The project is one of many that the students will complete as part of the program's community service component.