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THE PESA POST
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Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

March 10, 2022
TRAINING DAYS
Successful working professionals aren’t just born, they’re made. Our college internship program gives students entering the workforce a leg up on their careers
PESA prides itself on the services we offer but, of course, they’re only as good as the people who provide them. As such, we go to great lengths to train all of our colleagues, and that includes participants in our college internship program.

Our Spring 2022 cohort comes from seven college campuses, including California State University Long Beach, Los Angeles Pierce College, University of Redlands, California State University Northridge, Santa Monica College and Loyola Marymount University. There are also several interns from the University of Southern California’s Joint Educational Project (JEP) which is one of the oldest and largest service-learning programs in the United States. The internship is 13 weeks and consists of three major phases: legal, educational and outreach.

“The legal phase of the curriculum aims to provide undergraduate students opportunities of advocacy through legal and professional means,” says Assistant Director of Internships Amanda Flores (above). “Interns receive firsthand knowledge of the legal system from our executive director, Seymour Amster.”

In the second phase of the program, interns focus on the education aspect of PESA’s mission. “They are asked to consider the issues concerning today’s youth,” says Flores “and create an interactive educational presentation that informs and inspires youth to think differently. It is our hope that our efforts to educate can empower youth to be productive members of society.” 
Coordinators Flores and Cheyenne Clopton (left) prompt interns to develop these educational presentations on topics they feel are important but not otherwise included in the typical high school curriculum. This has resulted in an ever-expanding suite of presentations on subjects ranging from social etiquette to preserving eyesight, any of which can be made available to classrooms upon a teacher’s request. 

In the outreach phase of the internship program, participants identify a policy issue within a Southern California school district of their choosing and, after doing sufficient research, propose a solution. One recent example was the challenge of providing internet access to students in low-income communities, particularly during the recent switch to virtual learning during the pandemic.

The entire internship program not only trains participants for work with PESA but also helps college students prepare for their overall careers. Clopton herself was a member of the 2020 internship program and is now back guiding newcomers through the process. “It is definitely a full-circle moment,” she says. “I’m thankful that I get the opportunity to extend support to the next cohort of interns.” 

If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.