Align4edu

Alignment Collaborative for Education - ACE

Internships

Alignment prepares students for summer internships and the senior job fair 

Alignment’s program manager, Edgar Montes, leads student discussions.

Over 500 High School Students Ready to Develop Resumes and Prepare for Interviews

To prepare interested juniors in applying this spring for summer internships and to help seniors seeking employment after graduation prepare for the senior job fair on Thursday, April 20, Alignment provided U-46 students with work-based learning skills including an application, resume and interviewing skills workshop. Alignment’s program manager, Edgar Montes, led students in a discussion of application tips, resume development, and interview preparation. 

Alignment is also offering interested students the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed and edited by local human resources partners within the Alignment Collaborative to include Gail Borden Public Library, Junior Achievement, and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) for a three week period during mid February thru early March. Over 500 students to date have attended the initial application, resume and interview workshop, and we are looking forward to the opportunities they have to use these skills applying for internships and summer jobs.

Alignment’s Executive Director, Nancy Coleman, leads discussion on internships.

High School Interns Gain Career Experience in Municipalities and Community Service Agencies

Students Experience Public Service Careers

Alignment joining with the City of Elgin, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, Hanover Township, Streamwood Park District, Taylor Family YMCA, Village of Bartlett, and the Village of Hanover Park, offered 26 high school students the opportunity to gain experience in Business, Marketing, Public Service, and Education settings as part of a summer, work-based learning experience.

Ronin Shah, a student at Bartlett High School and intern for the Downtown Neighborhood Association, described his experience as “being able to gain real life experience working at the DNA. I was able to get that one-on-one community collaboration experience that I would not have had over the summer if I didn’t experience this opportunity.”

These internship experiences showed students “firsthand” the importance of community service and the positive impact that municipalities and community organizations contribute to the quality of life for families. Students also worked to improve their future employability skills as City of Elgin interns participated in resume development led by Billie Moffett from Gail Borden Public Library and interview skills with the assistance of Alignment’s staff at the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Hosting organizations also benefited. Jeff Janda, Executive Director of the Streamwood Park District, “readily agreed to host a team of summer interns. The interns contributed their ideas and creativity to enhance our marketing and communications efforts throughout the community.”

Thank you to our community partners and municipalities for making these experiences possible.

High School Interns Gain Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations Experience

Alignment Summer 2022 Manufacturing Internships

Alignment joining with Electri-flex, Elgin Sweeper, ITW Shakeproof, and Reishauer offered seven high school juniors opportunities to gain experience in engineering and manufacturing settings as part of a summer, work-based learning experience.

Students combined their interest in engineering and applied it in manufacturing settings. Project based assignments led by experienced engineering and operations professionals guided students to address a combination of design, quality, and safety challenges requiring innovative solutions to traditional manufacturing processes.

Kush Patel, a student at Bartlett High School and intern for Elgin Sweeper, described his experience as “giving him the real workforce experience that opened my mind to see how things we learn in school apply in real life.” Mitchell Briesemeister, Director of Educational Pathways for School District U-46, confirmed that this is exactly the intent of the summer internships. “Manufacturing is a critical economic driver for our region and internships are a great way for our students to learn about the multitude of high wage careers available in the industry and the skillsets they require.”

Alignment partnering with Northern Kane County Region 110 CTE programs placed 52 students in paid, summer internship opportunities because of the outstanding support received from its corporate partners. Tom King, Engineering Manager, ITW Shakeproof, emphasized that commitment “everyone involved here at Shakeproof was impressed with the interns and the program. Students were able to come up with an innovative solution to a real-world safety issue we deal with every day.”

Thank you to our corporate partners for making these experiences possible.

Architecture and Engineering Internship Highlights

Twelve students from School District U-46 recently had the opportunity to complete a two-week, paid internship with Judson University and Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick, Inc. (HLR), a local civil engineering company.

At HLR, students gained field and office experience in many different facets of civil engineering, showcasing what a career in civil engineering would look like. Highlights from their time at HLR included: engineering design and construction, traffic engineering, a wetland site visit, corridor modeling, and even a drone flight with the survey department.

“HLR has always been a company about educating and ensuring the future success of its employees. We take great pride in being able to share that vision with School District U-46 by educating students about civil engineering through this internship program. We have a lot of fun working with the students and seeing them take this level of interest at such an early stage in their education.” – Nicholas Piekarski, PE, CFM, Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick, Inc.

At Judson, the students participated in five workshops related to architectural design, requiring the students to use both creative and critical thinking skills. They were also able to experience unique workshops including camera-free photographs in a dark room and exploring visual communication through image and typography.

One of the interns, Emily Gillmore from Bartlett High School said, “Judson gave me an opportunity to learn about the developmental process of designing a public building and the creative process behind it. The hands-on experience of getting to create our own project and doing activities that are practiced in the real world was a truly rewarding experience.” 

Thank you to Judson and HLR for providing the students with such a meaningful internship experience. We are looking forward to sharing more internship highlights with you this summer!

More Student Takeaways…

“HLR quite possibly has the friendliest atmosphere I have ever seen at a job place. The company is just wonderful, and I greatly appreciate the experience and time I spent there.” – Andrew Calles, Larkin High School

“I learned to seek good opportunities that will allow me to combine something that I’m good at with something I really care about. When you love your job it’s easy to get up in the morning and spend hours doing your tasks. Hating your job will just make you miserable, even if you get paid good money.” – Anaid Braun, South Elgin High School

“I really enjoyed my time at HLR and Judson. I never realized how vast Civil Engineering could be, so exploring the possibilities through various lessons, workshops, and hands-on work expanded my knowledge in the field. The experiences I had throughout the internship were very enlightening and helped guide me towards finding a career in my future.” – Lucas Sanson, Bartlett High School

Judson Internship Photos

HLR Internship Photos