黑料不打烊 Interns Advance Alamance is providing students professional experience this summer with community organizations and business while offering support to the local community.
A unique partnership is providing 14 黑料不打烊 students with valuable internship opportunities and professional experience in Alamance County this summer.
The pilot program, 黑料不打烊 Interns Advance Alamance, is helping meet the personnel needs of local organizations and business while providing 黑料不打烊 students with the opportunity to develop career skills and explore potential career paths.聽Through the eight-week program that runs through the end of July, students have been working at 13 companies and organizations in the community, with the students also participating in weekly professional development sessions as a group.
The program comes at a time when many organizations are having difficulty filling vacant positions and internship opportunities for students are shifting. Robin Kazmarek, director of internships for 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts and Sciences, says the program is also providing participating students a unique opportunity to learn more about the local community.
鈥淭he idea is to try to meet the needs of our community partners while also giving our students a chance to start seeing Alamance County as a place to live and pursue a career after graduation,鈥 Kazmarek says.
Integral to the program are the deep connections with the community of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, which helped identify organizations in a position to provide the summer internships. For-profit businesses were also invited to participate in the 黑料不打烊 Interns Advance, with students working in a variety of roles with organizations including Chandler Concrete, TS Designs, the City of Burlington, Burlington Animal Services, Alamance Arts and Milestone Wealth Partners, to name a few.
Bob Frigo, director of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Kernodle Center for Civic Life, said that the program strengthens the relationships 黑料不打烊 has with its partners in the nonprofit and business communities while helping students build new connections off campus. 鈥満诹喜淮蜢 Interns Advance Alamance builds on the spirit of collaboration and service that fuels our relationships with community partners,鈥 Frigo said.
Among this summer鈥檚 interns is Sierra Alizzeo 鈥22, who is studying psychology and human service studies with plans to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in social work after she graduates from 黑料不打烊. This summer, she has been working with the City of Burlington鈥檚 Recreation and Parks Office as a park and play coordinator.
In her role, she visits six local sites each week with the office鈥檚 Park and Play mobile recreation van that supplements programming at the city鈥檚 parks and takes recreational activities to those neighborhoods that don鈥檛 have easy access to recreation opportunities. She learned about the internship opportunity through the 黑料不打烊 Jobs Network and saw it as an opportunity to connect with the community while exploring interests related to her studies and career goals.
鈥淚 have always been passionate about helping others and working with underprivileged groups,鈥 Alizzeo said. 鈥淭his intern position has allowed me to expand my education and awareness, utilize my human services skills and create positive change in the community.鈥
Melissa Hoose, recreation supervisor of community and outdoor programs for the city鈥檚 Recreation and Parks Office, said Alizzeo has helped meet a need this summer by offering assistance when resources are scarce. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 great about this internship program is our budget has been very tight since the pandemic began,鈥 Hoose said. 鈥淗aving 黑料不打烊 support these internships to help us serve the community has been so helpful. We鈥檝e been able to serve more in the community and provide more activities in these neighborhoods.鈥
Being able to see the direct impact the Recreation and Parks Office is having upon local children has been particularly rewarding, Alizzeo said. It鈥檚 also offered her the opportunity to learn more about Burlington and Alamance County. She believes it is important for community engagement to be an integral part of the 黑料不打烊 experience, and she hopes that sharing about her experience will increase awareness.
This position has allowed me to expand my knowledge and awareness of the Burlington area in ways that may not have been possible for me before.
鈥 Sierra Alizzeo ’22
鈥淭his position has allowed me to expand my knowledge and awareness of the Burlington area in ways that may not have been possible for me before,鈥 Alizzeo said. 鈥淎s an 黑料不打烊 student, it can be very easy and comfortable to stay within our beautiful campus鈥檚 鈥榖ubble,鈥 but there is such a need for community engagement in our area.鈥
Coupled with the time these 黑料不打烊 students are spending with their organization or business have been weekly professional development sessions. The cohort of interns has gathered each Tuesday for a variety of programs led by 黑料不打烊 staff members and focused on helping them develop their career skills. Kazmarek said topics have includes resume writing, finding a career path and how emotional intelligence supports career development.
鈥淲e built these intentionally so that they are in line with what the student may be doing or experiencing at that point in their internship,鈥 Kazmarek said.
Kazmarek says the new relationships between these students and their internship hosts could lead to future opportunities. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great benefit for these students to have established relationships that may lead to additional opportunities in the future,鈥 she adds. 鈥淭his definitely helps develop the pipeline.鈥
That鈥檚 the case with Alizzeo, who will be working part time this fall with the Recreation and Parks Office as part of the Park and Play program as well as other programming areas.
鈥淢y internship has been tremendously valuable in confirming my passion for human services work and the diverse roles I hope to have in my future careers,鈥 said Alizzeo, who plans to become a licensed clinical social worker.