Business work with the kids
Published on April 10th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA – There are many ways to help out a community and Stone-ham schools have once again found themselves on the receiving end of the Town’s generosity.
The Stoneham School Committee recently accepted the offer of the Town’s Chamber of Commerce and others for two programs designed to support the schools in creative ways.
A summer internship program for ninth graders and a Read Aloud program for elementary students are two of the most recent programs being offered to Stoneham students on behalf of the Town’s business community.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sharon Iovanni stressed the value of such support offered to the schools.
“It’s a great opportunity for the business community to provide support that isn’t just monetary,” she said. “This is a human resource.”
The summer internship program is being offered to students this summer who have completed the ninth grade Mentoring Program, also made possible by the Chamber and business community.
During the school year, the Mentoring Program has offered ninth-graders the opportunity to learn from business people about their professional lives and work experience. These participants from the business community donate their time, visiting Stoneham High School four times a year. This is the second year of the program.
The Summer Internship program then gives those same students a chance to go out into the work environment during the summer months.
The summer internships are unpaid, and the program is designed for commitments of six to 12 hours per week and run anywhere from four to eight weeks, depending on the particular placement.
According to the Chamber’s Business-School Partnership Committee Chairman, Craig Celli, the summer internship program is a natural progression from what the business community has already been doing in the High School through the mentoring program.
“Even though they’re 14 years old, they realize that what they’re doing now is really going to affect them later,” Celli said.
This realization is one of the goals of the programs. The other, according to both Iovanni and Celli, is to get students to begin thinking about what they would like to do beyond high school and college.
The Summer Internship Program is a win-win for everyone. Students start thinking seriously about their futures, and the business community benefits from extra help provided by the student interns.
The Rotary Club is also lending its support to the summer program. Rotary member Steve Rotondi presented a check to the School Committee on March 28 to fund an administrator for the program, someone to act as a liaison between the student volunteers and employers. The Chamber of Commerce said it will perform CORI (criminal background) checks on all business people providing internships.
With School Committee enthusiasm and approval now in hand, the Chamber is proceeding with recruiting businesses interested in providing internship opportunities.
“I anticipate we will have plenty of folks interested,” Iovanni said.
The second Chamber sponsored program is a Read Aloud program that puts business people right in the classroom, reading to elementary school students.
The brain child of StonehamBank employees Dave Arsenault and Nancy Corrigan, the Read Aloud program follows teacher approved reading lists and puts a fresh face in the classroom to read to students. Teachers will work closely with the readers.
Celli is excited about the programs and the potential to enhance the Town’s flourishing business-school relationship. Upon graduating from Stoneham Public Schools, Celli vowed to someday get back involved with students. As Chairman of the Business-School Partnership Committee, Celli said, “I think I picked the right committee for myself.”
Businesses do not have to be Chamber members to get involved in either program. For more information on how to participate, call the Chamber of Commerce at (781) 438-0001.
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