On July 30, Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere was joined by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price at a luncheon to celebrate the successful completion of another summer of the Plano Mayor’s Summer Internship Program. Participating student interns, teacher externs, employers and donors met for the luncheon at the Dallas/Plano Hilton Granite Park. The internship program, sponsored by Capital One, celebrated its fifth year this year.
The 2018 Plano Mayor’s Summer Internship Program connected 123 motivated Plano public high school students with invaluable experiences from top local companies and nonprofits. The students’ involvement ranged from shadowing executives at national business headquarters to getting hands-on experience at hospitals, tech companies and art organizations.
Rising juniors and seniors who are selected to participate in the eight-week program were given the opportunity to work 20- to 40-hour weeks earning a minimum of $9 per hour. Through the program, the students gain irreplaceable real-world experience.
However, students were not the only ones who benefited from this prestigious internship. Twelve Plano ISD teacher “externs” were placed in corporate environments in order to gain powerful insights to incorporate into their classroom instruction.
“We are so grateful for the collaboration between Plano ISD and our incredible business partners who rally each year to build our future workforce and up-and-coming leaders,” said Mayor LaRosiliere.
The interns themselves truly proved to be assets. For example, an intern at the City of Plano’s Environmental Health & Sustainability department helped develop a waste disposal app for Plano residents. Additionally, a McAfee intern in the Learning Operations team helped develop a training tool that will save the company hundreds of man-hours annually.
This year, more than 350 Plano public high school students applied for the coveted summer positions, with only 123 being accepted to the program.
