Sponsored Employment Program Interns

Summer 2006

From left to right:Yoanna Bucio Rial, Ana Soto, Jesus Chavez, Yasmin Chavez, Priscila Reyes

Five immigrant youth, ages 14 - 21, were placed at Nuestra Casa for a six-week employment opportunity. As a sponsoring agency, Nuestra Casa is preparing youth in East Palo Alto by building their assets and skill set. These skills can be applied to future jobs as well as to their current educational endeavors.

Their summer project involves conducting a community survey on the quality of education in the Ravenswood City School District. Youth received training in canvassing, outreach, public speaking, and campaign development. As part of their preparation, youth reviewed data on each school within the Ravenswood City School District.

Additionally, they participated in the Ravenswood City School District strategic planning session, A Journey to Excellence on June 24, 2006. They had an opportunity to share their views and opinions as immigrant youth and English Language Learners (ELL) who were or are currently enrolled within the school district.

In order to nurture critical thinking skills, all five youth are reading biographies or autobiographies of human rights leaders. The project-based learning aspect of their internship involves development of a group PowerPoint presentation on these leaders.

At the end of their internship, they will have developed career, educational, and personal goals, resumes, references and a personal statement.

We invite the community to join us for their graduation ceremony on August 4th, 2006. For more information, please contact Malcolm Hoover at Opportunities Industrialization Center West (OICW) at (650) 330-6442.