This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Every year since its founding in 1999, the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) has provided summer internships to high school students throughout the city.
This year, about 8,000 students spent between 120 and 160 hours at one of about 1,000 work sites throughout the city. These included IBX, Comcast, Bank of America, Drexel University, the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, and nonprofits, including PYN itself. The students are paid a minimum of $7.25 an hour, with some earning up to $12. They are chosen from about twice as many applicants.
Graduates of WorkReady and its predecessor, YouthWorks, have included a 6th-grade charter school teacher, an assistant dean at the Community College of Philadelphia, a psychologist with the Navy, and a senior labor and employee relations analyst with the Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations.
“No matter where a young person is working,” said PYN’s president and CEO, Chekemma J. Fulmore-Townsend, “we know that they are refining their natural talents and gaining essential skills that will help prepare them for successful futures.”
Here are four snapshots of this past summer’s interns.
Cancer Treatment Centers internship has been life changing for Carver senior
Carver junior learns value of networking at Drexel
Masterman junior discovers world of work at PYN
Carver junior’s Drexel job improves her efficiency, teamwork skills
The Notebook’s coverage of career readiness is supported by a grant from the Philadelphia Youth Network.