May 5 , 2007
By Jenni Mintz, Ventura Country Star
David Pantoja of Oxnard hasn't even completed the 11th grade at Oxnard High, but he already has some job offers.
After the 16-year-old was featured on the cover of The Star's April 12 edition, offers from readers began rolling in.
Using a drill press and lathe, Pantoja makes wooden pens and pencils that he sells. He hopes to earn enough money to pay for college, with any remaining proceeds to be used to start a cabinetmaking and kitchen remodeling business.
His business plan, developed through the Youth Empowerment Program, a part of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard, earned him an honor through the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). He was one of 30 students nationwide recognized during a ceremony in New York in April.
When he returned home, he was amazed to be faced with many more options.
He received employment opportunities, including three internship offers from a cabinetmaking company, NFTE and Naval Base Ventura County. Pantoja is waiting for more details on each offer before he makes a decision, but one thing is certain the budding entrepreneur will have a busy summer.
"All of these offers are making my reach more broad," he said. "I'm not so limited."
He was also presented with a free membership to Channel Islands Woodturners, which he accepted.
Mac McLaughlin of the California Carvers Guild, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching and promoting carving, offered him a free one-year membership.
Many others, who read Pantoja was saving for a drill press and lathe to manufacture the pens and pencils from home instead of a high school shop, were eager to give or buy him the equipment.
James Laverty of Camarillo called and offered Pantoja a lathe, which Pantoja picked up April 13. Herm Ross of Oxnard and Joe and Pat Sutter of Thousand Oaks each offered Pantoja a drill press and lathe. Others, like Charlie Booker of Ventura, welcomed Pantoja into his shop to use his lathes.
The world needs more young men like Pantoja, Booker wrote in an e-mail to The Star.
"The response was overwhelming," said Rosie Pantoja, David's mom.
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