Would you like to spend your summer trying a hand at developing an app? Or learning life-saving EMT skills? Tending to plants in a greenhouse, perhaps? MCPS’s Summer RISE program offers students opportunities like these, in collaboration with local organizations here in Montgomery County.
The Summer RISE program is a career-based summer internship program led by the MCPS Department of Partnerships. Established in 2017, the program is available every summer for rising juniors and seniors. The program runs for five weeks, usually from late June to July, where students complete a minimum of 50 hours of work experience in-person, virtually, or through a mix of both. A stipend of $500 is given after completion of the program.
To begin, students submit a comprehensive application based on their prospective career goals and choose workfields or industry areas they would be interested in working in. They then get matched with “local businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations,” according to internship and apprenticeship coordinator Michele McMahon.
Students spend the five weeks gaining hands-on experience at these organizations, allowing them to get a glimpse of what a real-world work environment operates like in a field that interests them.
College and career counselor Jennifer MacDonald recognizes the value of the skills Summer RISE provides. “You learn skills that you need to know when you go out into the workplace. For example, you learn how to communicate with your employer, scheduling, and how to dress appropriately for whatever field you’re in,” MacDonald said.
Even the most mundane aspects of workplace etiquette, like dress code, are delved into during Summer RISE. “We obviously don’t have dress codes in high school and so it’s good to learn that for certain professions you have to dress a certain way. For example, students who are going onto construction sites or engineering can have access to steel toe boots and hats. You have to decide if that’s something you vibe with or not, so I think that’s really important as well,” MacDonald said.
In addition to the valuable skills, another perk is that students can get weighted credit for participating in the program. MCPS has a summer internship class, where if a student completes 75 hours of internship work, they can gain weighted credit. “Your actual Summer RISE [internship] that you get paid for will be 50 hours over five weeks. But, lots of these places allow you to work more. Maybe you won’t get paid but if you get 25 more hours, you can sign up for the MCPS summer internship class in conjunction with Summer RISE and get weighted credit for it,” McMahon said.
MacDonald notes Summer RISE’s impact throughout college admissions, and how the program and any internships can set students apart. “Colleges have to distinguish between very, very similar candidates. When we meet with college admission representatives, they tell us that they’re looking for students who have what they call a ‘connected story’ through their high school experiences, where they’re looking for someone whose extracurriculars and internships reflect what they say they’re interested in,” Macdonald said. “Summer RISE stepping in is a way for our students to build that thing that sets them apart.”
Student testimonials from the program in 2019 can be found on the MCPSTV Youtube channel, where students express their feelings on the program. One student stated that you can “foster mentorship and connections” with others. “Anyone who wants to have a great career in the future should definitely take this advantage,” another said.
Regardless if a student participates in Summer RISE, internships and apprenticeships are valuable experiences. “Even if a student doesn’t get into Summer RISE or doesn’t apply in time, it is still important to find something enriching to do. Think about the skills you’ll learn and how you can apply them to college and beyond,” MacDonald said.
