Roberto Diaz helped code and design a video game based on FIU’s commencement. Janet Lofts edited a promotional video for the Frost Art Museum that will help promote the museum’s newest exhibit. Roberto Consuegra helped the Beacon Council with logistics in the filming of a video with FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg for the One Community One Goal report to the community.
Diaz, Consuegra and Lofts enjoyed these opportunities as participants in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Summer Youth Program, in which high school students interned in several FIU departments.
“I have found my passion,” said Lofts, a senior at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School. “Because of this experience I now know that I want to go into video production as my career choice. Thank you to FIU for the opportunity.”
“We understand that we have sacred obligation to make sure that all students get the best possible education right here at FIU,” said Rosenberg. “Every student counts, and the students who are admitted to this institution have the ability to succeed. These students are developing the skills necessary to go out and get a great job and create a great job. We are very proud that they are now a part of the Panther family.”
Working with the Office of Engagement, Academic Video Services and Media Services, Diaz, Consuegra and Lofts were just three of the 21 students who interned at FIU this summer and a small portion of the 1,300 Miami-Dade County Public School students who interned in companies across the county.
With a grant from Miami-Dade County, the Children’s Trust and the Foundation for New Education Initiatives, the high schoolers were placed in companies through the Talent Development Network, an initiative created by the Beacon Council’s Academic Leaders Council and spearheaded by FIU.
The program serves as a community portal for jobs and internships and includes a path to full time employment. The goal is to create an internship culture in Miami and help to keep local talent in Miami-Dade.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and those who get a lot have to give back a lot,” said Cristian Carranza, STEM administrative director for the Office of Academics & Transformation at M-DCPS. “These students are the voice of the Summer Youth Internship Program and the M-DCPS career academies and should share with other students their wonderful experience. Once you go on to college, and graduate remember the community that nurtured you. To FIU and the Talent Development Network, your partnership means the world to us.”
To honor the students and their parents, FIU’s Office of Engagement and Rosenberg held a reception for the students, parents and their FIU supervisors. During the reception the students showcased some of their work, and were recognized with a certificate of completion.
