Your Workforce, Your Chance for Input

Do you wish you had more input into what students are learning in the area education system?

One potential way to affect the future workforce is signing up to have an intern for the summer. Dallas ISD high schools are looking for companies who will host interns through a variety of different opportunities.

Students in Dallas ISD enrolled in the Academy of Finance (AOF) and Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (AOHT), affiliated with the National Academy Foundation (naf.org), are seeking paid internships in practical experience in the areas of finance and hospitality and tourism services. Such internships in chosen areas serve as an extension of their instruction and curriculum. NAF requires internships to be completed during the summer between the junior and senior years of high school or during the senior year. Internships create a dual advantage: (1) they allow students entry-level exposure to a career in their fields of training and expertise and (2) they prepare competent, loyal and enthusiastic members of our future workforce.

• Summer experiences require six to eight weeks of on-the-job experience ; during the academic year a minimum of 15 hours per week is required
• Pay for the internship is determined by the employer in consultation with academic supervisors
• Academy instructors consult with employers to successfully match students with employer’s needs; instructors maintain contact with students and employers throughout the duration of the internship
• Students are required to make formal applications and one-on-one interview for positions

For additional information, contact Amy Matthew, Director of Academies at 214-932-5036 or amatthew@dallasisd.org.

Another opportunity exists through Mayor Tom Leppert and primary sponsor AT&T’s Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program for Dallas ISD juniors and seniors. They are asking corporate leaders to choose students from a select group of schools within Dallas ISD. The goal of the program is to help students make connections between their education and a future career. The program encourages participation, stating that “by becoming a part of the Mayor’s Intern Fellows Program this summer, you’ll expand the powerful impact your company has already had on the City of Dallas as we prepare our youth for success.”

We hope that you will strongly consider participation in one or both of these programs. The youth in our city would benefit from business involvement more than any of us can comprehend.

We want to extend a special Thank You to all of those companies and individuals who participated in our Financial Aid for the Future program during February and March. We had over 70 business and non-profit organizations represented by approximately 120 volunteers help with these events. With their help, we were able to assist almost 160 students and families fill out the FAFSA in Dallas ISD and Carrollton-Farmer Branch ISD. We also want to thank our Workforce and Education Taskforce members for their support and leadership of this important initiative.

For questions regarding this information, please contact Lindsay Ayers at lmayers@dallaschamber.org.