“It’s all about building relationships”, Chad Vail, Work-based Learning Partnerships Coordinator for Charleston County School District explained to the students during their orientation meeting in June.

34 students from high schools throughout the school district begin paid summer internships with in 13 various CCSD departments. Their internships started in June and they had their end of the year celebration on August 3rd.  Each student built valuable relationships and gained important career readiness experiences as a summer intern

Students were placed with their assigned departments based on their career interests. Students had the opportunity to earn a high school work-based learning course credit while earning a hourly wage of, $17/hour. Some interns even earned a career related certificates related to the industry they gained experience in.

New this summer, was a special cohort of 11 students are working with the Office of Translation & Interpretation and CCSD’s Multilingual Services & Outreach Department. Each participating student was empowered with job related education delivered by an industry expert in translation and interpretation, and on-the-job training at an elementary school to assist families seeking to enroll their children in a CCSD school for the first time.

A few highlights from the intern’s experience:

“I really enjoyed building relationships with the children and with my other co-workers.”

“I am very thankful for this experience and for the chance to help others.”

“This experience has changed my career path.”

“I am thankful that I was able to help other families, make them feel more comfortable and assist them with school registration.”

Congratulations to our summer interns and thank you to all the CCSD Departments that helped make these experience happen for our students!