Despite challenges presented by Covid-19 since March, PEF’s STEP-UP Chattanooga expanded its work-readiness programming to include a virtual internship and mentoring program to continue its mission of “preparing tomorrow’s workforce today.” STEP-UP Chattanooga provides work-readiness training and ongoing support to Hamilton County Public Schools working-age students.
The closure of schools and office spaces due to the pandemic restricted STEP-UP from placing Hamilton County Schools students with local business partners for paid summer internships. “We had over 130 students who received training last fall ready to be matched in the spring. Then, the pandemic hit,” said Dr. Jeff Rector, STEP-UP Chattanooga Business Partnerships manager. “We knew we had to come up with a Plan B.”
Plan B became more of a Plan ‘V’ for “virtual” as Dr. Rector encouraged employers to consider establishing part-time positions that STEP-UP interns could work remotely. Local businesses and organizations hired 45 interns to work either virtually or onsite. Interns who worked onsite were provided personal protective equipment, social distancing guidelines and training on safety guidelines. Those employers who hired interns virtually used technology to assign tasks, monitor intern productivity and maintain consistent check-ins.
Art 120, an arts education organization, hired seven interns. Kate Warren of Art 120 stated "It was a little scary at first to even think about how we could retool our program model for virtual education, much less internships. However, we quickly realized that the very students STEP-UP Chattanooga could provide are already qualified enough to: work remotely, evaluate the current online education experience and understand digital storytelling through a combination of online platforms, both social and educational.”
Ms. Warren said she assigned the interns, who ranged from high school sophomores to sophomores in college, to research more than 20 different online resources and create digital elements to prepare the Jingle Truck Program for remote learning.
With a surplus of ready-to-work students and a limited number of employers able to hire, STEP-UP still needed to provide interns with a means of gaining employable skills and information from employers. That’s how STEP-UP Mentoring Program was launched. Companies and organizations that previously committed to hiring summer interns were invited to share professional experiences by virtually mentoring a student for about one hour a month throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Potential mentors must pass background checks and participate in an orientation session prior to being matched. Parents of minor students must provide signed consent forms for their students to participate.
STEP-UP Chattanooga is still accepting applications for mentors and mentees. Business professionals interested in investing 15 minutes per week to mentor a STEP-UP student; or students who would like to be mentored by a professional in your field of interest, contact Dr. Jeff Rector at jrector@pefchattanooga.org.