Pelham Together is again offering teenagers mentored internships during the summer in a variety of fields, from education to medicine. The program connects high schoolers with local businesses and offers valuable work experience.
The effort was launched in 2018 to give teens more opportunities in the community for paid work and real-world experiences.
“These experiences allow young people to explore their interests, practice the accountability of showing up to work, completing tasks that are expected of them, communicate with adults who are not their parents or in their family, all before they go out and do that in their lives after high school,” said Laura Caruso, executive director of Pelham Together.
Sara Haberman, a mentor in the program and the chief executive officer and founder of Admission Sense, said, “They gain professional skills. I’m teaching them how to use Excel docs and how to do college research. So they’re learning a lot about the college process while they’re actually helping me.”
The program has grown significantly over time, rising from 12 students applying in the first year to 70 this year.
High school students submitted written applications in March. The applicants who were able to commit to attending a three-day leadership training held in July were granted an interview by the Pelham Together staff. Since there are a limited number of mentors, seniors who have only one summer left are prioritized. Students accepted into the program usually work 30 hours over three weeks with weekly check-ins via Zoom.
The work and tasks students perform vary based on the business and the mentor.
“I have students do some social media and a lot of college research, like updating spreadsheets and the college interview process, updating like all policies and information for like my protocols,” Haberman said.
Another mentor, Chris Lauretani, the president of Symmetry Physical Therapy, said interns do “filing, scheduling patients, organizing. It’s things like that. And then on the clinical side, they basically help the physical therapists treat the patients. So that might be showing somebody an exercise or cleaning down tables.”
While the students gain a great deal from the program, the businesses also benefit from having interns. Clients get excited working with new people, said Lauretani.
Work also becomes quicker and easier with the help of the interns, said Haberman.