Youth Internships, Enhancing Professional and Leadership Skills One Student at a Time!
Danielle Shilling, Youth Internships AmeriCorps VISTA, Red Lodge Area Community Foundation
20-30% of high school students experience depression and/or anxiety at some point before adult hood. That’s forty-one students at our local high school. Many of them feel the burden of modern life including increasing high expectations, relationships, financial stress, and much more. On top of that, they are going through the highest stakes time period of their life, the transition from high school to life after.
For most high school students, the setting where they are taught to thrive in is school.
“Youth Internships allow students the opportunity to consolidate and apply the learning from their high school course work into a meaningful and relevant on-the-job experience,” says Rex Ternan, Principal at Red Lodge High School, “It is their venue to connect with the world outside of school and to gain the skills to go on to further education and/or enter the workforce.”
The Youth Internships provides an avenue to expand the adolescents learning in a professional environment, as well as gives direct experience to make an educated decision in choosing their next steps in life.
“This experience gave me more insights on what it is like in the job world, making it less scary and intimidating,”
says Gracie Andrews, Youth Intern. She worked with the Foundation and the Carbon County Historical Society and Museum doing graphic design. And the benefits don’t end with the Youth, it also is a great addition to an organization. When we asked Sarah Russell of CCHSM if this is beneficial for the organization, employer, and the youth, she replied,
“I think it was beneficial for all three– our organization got work completed that hasn’t been done in years. I appreciated it because it was off my plate. I think it was good for Gracie because I allowed her to be self-directed, something that she will need going into freelancing or college after she graduates.”
The Foundation hosts the youth internship program which consists of 10 weeks of work, 20 hours a week, and $2,000 for the whole summer for each student who participates. Students receive this stipend in three different ways. One, the Foundation pays for the entire stipend, two, the business partaking in the hosting the student pays for partial and the Foundation pays partial, and third, the business pays the full stipend. In many cases, businesses do not have the funds to pay for an intern.
We are raising $14,000 to be able to provide as many disengaged youth as possible with this life changing opportunity. You can transform a student’s high school experience and their future by donating today. To learn more about the program or how to donate, contact Danielle Shilling at 406-446-2820, danielle@rlacf.org, 122 S Hauser Ave, or online at www.rlacf.org.