Plan your internship search

Internships for high school students are hard to find because they are traditionally for college students. For this reason, finding one that meets your needs requires planning. An article on collegeboard.com that does good job answering the question how to find an internship is appropriately titled "How to Find an Internship".
In it, there was a little story about a high school student who landed an internship at a local newspaper to find out if she wanted to pursue journalism as a career. She learned a lot about the newspaper industry and decided to major in journalism in college.
Doing an internship in high school can give you a leg up in a lot of industries, especially journalism. Will a high school internship at a newspaper land you a full-time job after graduation? Probably not, but the contacts you make will help you later on when you start looking for jobs or other internships. It will also help you decide if you pocess a passion in the industry you interned in. If more people in high school did internships, I bet there would be less college freshmen who list "undecided" as their major.

Education is key for automotive industry

It used to be that people could graduate from high school could learn how to be a mechanic by learning on the job. Today, the automotive industry is changing and employees are required to have training and education that extends beyond high school.
A New York Times article tells of the demand for mechanics, or "automobile service technicians." To keep up with the advancements of hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles, automobile service technicians must be educated in everything in England (communication skills) and computer science (dealing with computers), the article explains.
So where to high school students come it? High schoolers have the opportunity to participate in youth programs, such as the Automotive Youth Educational Systems program, which draws students into the profession. It is a two-year program which students start as juniors. When they are half-way through the program, they get a paid mentored internship with a dealer.
If you are a high school student thinking about becoming an automobile service technician, know that a college degree is required. Experience working for a dealer is great, but advanced education and training is required to earn top dollar.

Interns blog about experience

The Community Media Center, a non-profit public access television station in Palo Alto, CA offers internships to youth in high school and college. The interns gain valuable experience in video editing and production. They maintain a blog about the work they've been doing and their thoughts about it. The movies students produce are documentaries that educate the community about the lives of college students and high school students, among other things. Palo Alto High School's student-run newspaper ran an article about the youth program at the Media Center.
"The Media Center provides tools for teens considering a career in media to get a taste of the field," the article stated. The center does this by giving interns the freedom to use equipment for free so they can successfully produce and edit the projects they've been working on.

Intern in high school, stand out from crowd

I came across an article on fastweb.com about sniffing out internships while you're still in high school. It links to a few companies that have formal internship programs for high school students. According to the article, many organizations, such as the Smthsonian, have formal internship programs for high school students. That is a testimate to the increasing amount of high school students interested in pursuing internships.

According to Alicia Fales, coordinator of the Honors Senior Internship Program at Towson High School, 45 seniors are currently interning. When I was a student there in 2002, there were only 15 interns in the program. Students work with a mentor that provides them with an experience that can't be replicated in the classroom.

Employers give youth a chance

I found an article on an academic database. Employees realize that it is important for high school students to gain work experience before they head to college. Internships give students an idea of what they might want to study in college. Students are using internships to enhance their college applications. I found another article about the popularity of internships among high school students. In some cases, internships instill a passion within high school students to explore a certain field. They take that passion to college and find succuss.

Internships available to high school students

When people think of internships, college students come to mind. Now, high school students are taking advantage of them. Despite their lack of experience, high schoolers are relying on their interest level to land internships. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has a summer internship program for high school students. They are paired with scientists and assist them with research. Recently I got to interview Matt Stankiewicz, a senior at Parkville High School who interns at the Space Telescope Science Institute. A business client of Matt's dad helped him land his first job but his interest played a key role. Matt is currently taking data and pictures from the Hubble Legacy Archive and making it into a useable form for scientists.

Keeping students motivated

Baltimore is making process as far as education goes. There are many independent Catholic schools offering children a top notch education tuition free. Some of those schools are Mother Seton Academy, Sister's Academy in Landsdown and St. Ignatius Academy. St. Francis Academy and Cristo Rey Jesuit also target children from low income families seeking a college preparatory education. Theses schools are successful because they motivate children to stay in school and offer them support when they need it. At Cristo Rey, the corporate internship program is the key to helping students stay motivated. The program is described in more detail on the Baltimore school's website and in a Catholic News Service article. I spoke with some students about their internships and their feedback has been positive. One girl said the internship encourages her to do her school work more. They told me that it's hard for them to juggle school, an internship and extra curricular activities, but from what I gather, they manage to do it and do it well. All that activity keeps them busy and off the streets.