Thursday, March 16, 2023

On Tuesday, March 7, the Y.O.U. staff celebrated the end of the internship program for our summer 2022 and fall 2023 cohorts. This was the first fall cohort, and Y.O.U. was very happy with the results of the pilot program. Oatey hosted the event and participated as an internship mentor company.

Y.O.U. Internship Manager, Valerie Hickey, spoke about the exciting growth of the Y.O.U. Internships program in the last few years. Internships have been at Y.O.U. for nearly10 years! Internships specialists, Eric and Alexcia, introduced five intern presenters from internship sites through the City of Cleveland: Dept. of Community Development, City Architecture, Hyland Software, and Holden Arboretum: Green Corps.

Mentors from ACE Mentoring Program, Apex Dermatology, Argonaut, City Architecture Inc., City of Cleveland: Prosecutors Office, Oatey Co., and W.S. Tyler attended. Each mentor site received a framed certificate of appreciation.

Interns completed their internships with newfound skills and appreciation for their passions. Intern Michael (pictured presenting in the first photo above) is going to continue interning with his mentor at the City of Cleveland: Department of Community Development because they had such a positive experience working together independent from the Y.O.U. program. Michael told the Y.O.U. staff the internship changed his daily routine in a great way. He said he ended up getting a membership at the Y near his internship and now has a workout routine. He said he’s gotten into shape and feels better than ever.

Apply for the spring cohort! Applications are open until May 1.