Youth Internship Program gives students hands-on experience
Youth Internship Program gives students hands-on experience
By Tia Carol Jones
The University of Chicago is set to accept students into its Youth Internship Program. Students who are interested in health sciences, computer sciences or IT services are encouraged to apply. The University of Chicago launched the Youth Internship Program in 2021 to provide paid employment opportunities for Chicago Public high school students who live on the South Side of Chicago. The mission of the program is for students to gain a stronger peer network, prepare and expose them to college and career options. Students have access to guest speakers at the University, as well as to professional development activities. The hope is that access will enable them to be more successful in the internship experience.
Since the program began there have been 85 students. There is an opportunity for 50 new students this year. The program is a partnership with One Summer Chicago, the summer youth employment program from the Department of Family & Support Services.
According to Abel Ochoa, Executive Director of College Readiness and Access with University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement, the program was launched because stakeholders expressed a need for more youth employment opportunities.
Students must have at least a 3.0 unweighted grade point average. The students should live in Douglas, Grand Boulevard, Greater Grand Crossing, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, Washington Park, Woodlawn and South Shore. Students begin the program in their junior year of high school.
While the Youth Internship Program started off as a one-year experience, it is now a two-year experience. That was done because of the feedback from the students. They were surveyed about their experience, showed they wanted more than a summer experience and wanted the option to return because they didn’t feel the work, they started was complete. The feedback from the supervisors was similar, noting the students would benefit from having another summer in the program, giving them the option to help continue the project or see the progress of the project.
With the new redesign of the program, the first year is focused on immersion of professional and career readiness, with exposure to the kind of work they will do for the internship in the following year. This year, students will be working in the Cancer Clinical Trials Department, Department of Psychology, Information Technology Services Department and the Computer Science Department.
“These are departments that are across the University, including the Hospital and within the College. They are all under specific categories that we emphasized for this new redesigned. We’re really narrowing down and focusing on providing students with experiences in IT services and Health Sciences,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa added, through student feedback, there was a desire for them to learn more and be more interactive with technology, in an office environment. Students also wanted to discover more opportunities in the health sciences.
In the future, there is a desire to expand the career clusters to other areas. At the end of this summer, students will be asked what other career clusters they would like to experience. The goal with that is to find out what other departments the program can partner with and broaden internship placements for the students.
The deadline to apply is Friday, May 12th. For more information about applying, visit https://tinyurl.com/mrd84ptj.
By Tia Carol Jones
The University of Chicago is set to accept students into its Youth Internship Program. Students who are interested in health sciences, computer sciences or IT services are encouraged to apply. The University of Chicago launched the Youth Internship Program in 2021 to provide paid employment opportunities for Chicago Public high school students who live on the South Side of Chicago. The mission of the program is for students to gain a stronger peer network, prepare and expose them to college and career options. Students have access to guest speakers at the University, as well as to professional development activities. The hope is that access will enable them to be more successful in the internship experience.
Since the program began there have been 85 students. There is an opportunity for 50 new students this year. The program is a partnership with One Summer Chicago, the summer youth employment program from the Department of Family & Support Services.
According to Abel Ochoa, Executive Director of College Readiness and Access with University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement, the program was launched because stakeholders expressed a need for more youth employment opportunities.
Students must have at least a 3.0 unweighted grade point average. The students should live in Douglas, Grand Boulevard, Greater Grand Crossing, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, Washington Park, Woodlawn and South Shore. Students begin the program in their junior year of high school.
While the Youth Internship Program started off as a one-year experience, it is now a two-year experience. That was done because of the feedback from the students. They were surveyed about their experience, showed they wanted more than a summer experience and wanted the option to return because they didn’t feel the work, they started was complete. The feedback from the supervisors was similar, noting the students would benefit from having another summer in the program, giving them the option to help continue the project or see the progress of the project.
With the new redesign of the program, the first year is focused on immersion of professional and career readiness, with exposure to the kind of work they will do for the internship in the following year. This year, students will be working in the Cancer Clinical Trials Department, Department of Psychology, Information Technology Services Department and the Computer Science Department.
“These are departments that are across the University, including the Hospital and within the College. They are all under specific categories that we emphasized for this new redesigned. We’re really narrowing down and focusing on providing students with experiences in IT services and Health Sciences,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa added, through student feedback, there was a desire for them to learn more and be more interactive with technology, in an office environment. Students also wanted to discover more opportunities in the health sciences.
In the future, there is a desire to expand the career clusters to other areas. At the end of this summer, students will be asked what other career clusters they would like to experience. The goal with that is to find out what other departments the program can partner with and broaden internship placements for the students.
The deadline to apply is Friday, May 12th. For more information about applying, visit https://tinyurl.com/mrd84ptj.
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