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For the first time, 11 local high school students completed internships in food services and maintenance at Syracuse University this past summer. 

The Career and Technical Education Programs originated at the Syracuse City School District. Some students, such as those who worked in maintenance, had background experience before joining their programs. Other available SCSD CTE programs included journalism, law enforcement and beauty.

Students could also participate in in-class learning experiences along with their internships, and they could have the internship count for college credit. 

Cydney Johnson, SU’s vice president of community engagement and government relations, proposed the technical training partnership between SCSD and SU.

“They are very much aligned to career paths that we have here at the university. One of the things the school district has identified is the need for students to get hands-on experience in their field,” Johnson said. “That is why we felt we could be helpful.” 

Some interns were placed in the kitchen of the Drumlins Country Club, said Chris Myslow, the newly appointed director at the Drumlins, who oversaw the teenagers’ integration in the kitchen.

Most students who participated in the food service internship did not have prior experience in the field, and they learned on the job while being exposed to the behind the scenes of the hospitality industry, Myslow said. The interns were expected to fully participate in the work and not limit themselves to just observing the job. 

“We’re in a fast-paced business, so there is not enough time to train. So they had the ability to pick up quickly on some of our processes and figure out how things worked,”  Myslow said. “I was very impressed. It exceeded my expectations.”

The students who participated in the maintenance internship worked under Robin Light, supervisor of machinery at SU, and they received rigorous training to prepare for a potential future in the field, Light said.

“There was a market increase in their abilities from when they first started to when they left, and they were very happy with their increase in ability,” Light said “It was quite rewarding seeing them take the information — they were listening all the time and didn’t really play around. They were quite serious students.”

Although the students in this section of the program had knowledge of welding, COVID-19 limited hands-on-experience opportunities, he said. Because of the large number of students in one room at a time, the interns participated in rotations to work in general maintenance and machine repair.

COVID-19 was a concern for the university, so students were required to be vaccinated, Johnson said. The various workspaces also took precautions to prevent the spread of the virus, Myslow said, and students had to follow the university’s mask mandates. 

“The kitchen was relatively open-air. We still wore face masks and everything for university procedure, but (COVID-19) was not an issue.” Myslow said. 

Johnson said that SU hopes to continue hosting students for internships each summer, and there is also a possibility of increasing the number of summer interns in following years. The supervisors were pleased by the students’ performance and the SCSD received positive feedback about the experience from the students, she said. 

“We would like to grow the program and have more students work at the university over the summer,” Johnson said. “The students did a tremendous job.” 

Published on October 5, 2021 at 12:09 am

Contact Sneha: skc101@syr.edu