ELECT internship
ELECTing to learn through experience
Internship provided to area teens
While many high school students celebrated the school year’s end with vacation and relaxation, Bloomsburg student Mike Harmon was hard at work as a technology intern for the CSIU.
Mike, who will enter his senior year in the fall, learned about the internship when Kim Eroh, the IU’s Family Education Project Manager, spoke to him in person. “I wouldn’t have known [about the internship] otherwise. Kim gave me this opportunity and I took it,” he said.
The internship is offered to teen parents through the CSIU’s Project ELECT. One of three teen students who participated in ELECT’s internship program this year, Mike worked with the Technology Group, learning wiring and programming skills. He assisted with the central office’s phone system upgrades and installed computer software.
Mike will spend the rest of his summer working at Belzano’s Italian Kitchen in Bloomsburg, where he says he does a little bit of everything. “I’m a dishwasher. Some days I’m a delivery boy, and I help cook.”
After graduation, Mike hopes to attend Luzerne County Community College. He wants to be a mechanic. “I grew up around cars and I like working on them,” he said. “The computer stuff was good experience, because a lot of cars have [computers] now.”
The internship Mike completed was made possible by a $5,000 Gold Medal grant by the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Initiative, a statewide partnership dedicated to preparing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for global competitiveness by providing education and career development opportunities for Pennsylvania students.