Learning on the
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BY SARAH VANBUSKIRK
Ava Houtman, a rising senior at St. Mary’s Academy, started her ongoing, two-hour per week, paid internship in March 2021 at Portland State University. Houtman, a 17-year-old, interns at the Futures Collaboratory, a campus-wide interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff and students looking at futurefacing issues. Houtman says her specific project, which is conducted online, is researching and proposing a curriculum to engage femaleidentifying middle-school students to learn blockchain technology. She says she is relishing the real-world research opportunity provided by her internship, which explores her interest in technology. Houtman says what excites her most about it is the “opportunity to work with women in the work world and be part of something that will educate people on this unique technology.” Plus, she has learned that she also has something to contribute: “I think my perspective brings a unique viewpoint that is valuable in this research.” Internships like Houtman’s offer teens real-world work experience, as well as additional training, support and enrichment. Students get to work in a wide range of fields, skill sets, and capacities, including in marketing, customer service, social media, research, operations, child care, programming and more. Last year, like most activities, the vast majority of teen internships were cancelled, truncated, or turned virtual because of the pandemic. These necessary changes limited students’ opportunities to gain meaningful internships experience. As we emerge from COVID-19 restrictions, this time-honored teen tradition is making a comeback. Some internships will remain on pause or continue to be offered remotely, but many more are in-person. This summer, high schoolers across the metro area are working in a variety of capacities, including in programs facilitated by local school districts. For example, Portland Public Schools (PPS) regularly shares internship opportunities with its students through the SummerWorks program, which is a paid internship program facilitated by PPS and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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August 2021
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pdxparent.com
TRACKERS EARTH
Teen internships look a lot different thanks to COVID, but more career-boosting opportunities for students are opening back up. Find out where teens have been gaining valuable experience in the Portland area.
