By Amy Baskin

Director of Community Education and Communications

We are in our fourth year of partnering with area businesses to provide job training and internship opportunities for the youth in our community and we are looking to expand even more with you. In our first year we had seven student interns working in the community. Last year we were able to provide 19 students with internships. This year we are looking to grow to at least 30.

Step up Austin is a summer job program for current high school juniors at Austin and Pacelli High Schools. Interns receive job training and then work for pay at area businesses to gain job experience, explore career interests, and build professional skills.

There are a lot of benefits for employers. An internship expands your talent pipeline by introducing dynamic, diverse youth to your industry; brings fresh ideas, energy and creativity to your workplace; offers professional development opportunities for your staff to supervise interns; provides extra help for company projects at minimum cost; and presents opportunities to give back to your community by mentoring a young person.

The benefits for our youth includes the opportunity to explore careers and gain the skills, job experience, social capital and confidence necessary to achieve educational and professional goals; build 21st Century skills in communications, collaboration and problem-solving for today’s professional environment; offers a network of caring adult professionals to support career and post-secondary goals; and delivers career laddering opportunities to deepen and connect career interests with post-secondary education and career planning.

The employer responsibility is to provide a paid intern position within your organization at a wage range of $8 to $10 per hour. The hours of the position should range from 15 to 40 hours per week and last six to eight weeks during June, July and August. Employers are also encouraged to participate in the intern interviews to choose the right intern for your position.

An entire generation of workers is getting ready to retire and Austin businesses are looking for young workers with the right set of diverse skills and cultural backgrounds. Step Up Austin is a great partnership to meet these needs. We hope that you will partner with us to provide jobs for our youth this summer. For more information on Step Up Austin, contact katie.baskin@austin.k12.mn.us or 507 460-1802.