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Sheldon Verneret spent the summer before his senior year as an intern at Santander Bank on Brickell as part of the Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP), shadowing people in accounting and risk management to learn about the banking business from the inside to see if it’s a career he could pursue.
“I got a preview into what an accounting career would be like and that was helpful since I hope to open my own accounting firm one day,” said Verneret, who graduated from William H. Turner Technical Arts High School and now attends Florida State University.
Verneret is one of hundreds of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) students who have participated in SYIP.
The program, now in its ninth year, paired 10th to 12th grade students with employers for five weeks from July 1 to August 4. The student interns work 30 hours five days a week, and are paid by SYIP, not employers. Students earn high school credit for the internship and in some cases college credit.
So far, 786 employers have signed up and been paired with 3,238 students from 97 schools.
M-DCPS is partnering with The Children’s Trust, Miami-Dade County, Career Source South Florida, EdFed – The Educational Federal Credit Union, and the Foundation for New Education Initiatives to offer these internships. These partners have invested $6.25 million in this year’s SYIP.
Students participating in the SYIP work in a variety of fields that interest them, ranging from law offices to hotels. In addition to work experience, students collaborate with employers and co-workers from diverse backgrounds, all leading to students who become confident in their ability to work with others and express themselves in a professional way.
“I gained multiple soft skills like communication and creativity. They taught us through Outlook how to format emails in a professional way and how to keep on track of tasks and talk to employers,” said Esia Segovia, who interned at EdTech last summer before her senior year. “But we also learned hard skills such as the coding and the computer aspect of our internship, learning Python.”
For employers, this is an opportunity to help high school students gain work experience and learn about a future career. But the employers benefit too.
“A lot of times businesses don’t know how to get involved in supporting schools. Here’s talent that is vetted, prepared and motivated and, by the way, the district is paying for them,” said Carlos Vazquez, EdTech president and CEO. “And it’s a great opportunity for businesses to really think intentionally about developing their talent pipeline.”
Students have been placed in Miami Dade County offices, veterinary offices, restaurants, engineering firms, daycare centers, law offices, and many other fascinating places. They are even entrenched at the School Board Administration building Downtown.
“I feel like I’m working at a real job, getting hands-on experience. We’re trusted and given real freedom here,” said Sarah Louis, who will be a junior at North Miami Senior High School in the in the fall.
Louis is interning at the M-DCPS media relations department, learning the ropes of the news and communications business.
In one case, an intern from long ago now is paving the way for new SYIP interns. Bernardo Pinheiro, the new director of Human Resources at the Miami Beach Convention Center, once was an intern at that location. This summer he hired six SYIP interns to work in account, events and human resources.
Giving students the opportunity to explore future careers while getting paid and earning high school credit is another example of why M-DCPS is your best choice.
Lupe Ferran Diaz, PhD, is Administrative Director of Career Technical Education, Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
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