Need a summer job but don’t know where to start looking? Want experience in a field you’re interested in? Thanks to the free Gloucester High Internship Program beginning on February 7th, GHS students between 9th and 11th grade can get a head start in the summer job search while applying their individual traits and desires to potential career paths.

“One of the biggest benefits [of the program] was how much I developed my interpersonal skills, especially in a professional environment,” said Cara Burley, who was enrolled in the program last year. “It really made me think about future career paths from a different angle.”

The three step program starts off with a 15 week class meeting on Tuesdays from 2:20-4:20 p.m. in room 2210. Students will then be matched with summer internships, most of which are paid, based on their interests and goals. After completing the course, students will begin their internships while receiving continuous support from a career adviser.

Students will learn how to write a cover letter and a resume, and how to integrate their own values, talents, and character traits into possible careers.

“One of the first things we did was create a job board that showed some of our dream jobs,” said Burley. “We used cards to determine what we’re best at, like emphasizing, persuading, giving advice, interpreting data, and other things that can be applied to future careers to help us figure out what we’re good at and what we’d like to do.”

The program was originally offered as a Gloucester U class for the past two years, but will continue this year thanks to new funding.

“Due to the great work of LEAP for Education with support from the Gloucester Schools Administration, the afterschool/summer internship preparation and placement program will resume on February 7th,” said coordinator Caitlin Pszenny.

The Gloucester U after school program ended after its 2016 summer session when the district decided that its escalating costs would be too expensive to provide for.

While many of the classes offered by Gloucester U, which was based out of the GHS Elliot T. Parker Library Learning Commons, are no longer running, popular classes like the Environmental Club and Police Academy are still operating under other means of support.

“The library will always be here to support students,” said GHS library teacher and former Gloucester U program leader Samantha Whitney.

For more information about the Internship program, go to http://www.leap4ed.org/programs/academic-learning/internship-program/ .

To register, CLICK HERE.