WPSI’s Youth Employment Network engages young people in their own neighborhood, working in partnership with some of the region’s largest employers to prepare West Philadelphia high school students for career opportunities. Real-world work experience is balanced with professional development and work-readiness training, emphasizing the crucial link between education and success. The Youth Employment Network includes the Summer Jobs and Small Business Services Programs. Click here to watch a video about the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative.

For more information, contact Sheila Ireland: Sheila@universitycity.org

Youth

Summer Jobs

WPSI’s summer jobs program is structured in two tiers. Students in grades 9 and 10 participate in projects that directly serve their community. 11th and 12th grade students are placed in professional internships with major employers. The two tiers are outlined below. All students receive professional work readiness training delivered by industry-recognized service providers, ongoing mentoring and support as well as college and career access programming.

To apply for admission to the Summer Jobs Program in the summer of 2012, download the application to the left. You must submit a copy of your last report card with your application. This application is available from February 1 to March 30, 2012.

Service Learning

Since 2006, UCD’s Youth Employment Network has provided 30 students each summer with an introduction to work experience. These young people work in service their own community, designing and carrying out projects. Past projects have included:

  • Community Improvement Indexing Project, in which students developed a community improvement plan centered on a specific neighborhood, identified issues, assets and stakeholders, and made recommendations for specific improvements.
  • The Lancaster Avenue Corridor Management Project, in which students catalogued and analyzed businesses on a neighborhood commercial corridor, surveyed the conditions on the corridor, and interviewed business owners.
  • The West Philadelphia Health Education Initiative, a student-led initiative in which young people learned about health issues of special interest to teens, developed strategies to communicate with their community, and started conversations about these issues with their most important resource: their parents.

To apply for admission to the Service Learning Program in the summer of 2012, download the Summer Jobs Application in the section above. You must submit a copy of your last report card with your application. The application is available from February 1 to March 30, 2012.

Professional Internships

Since 2009, WPSI’s Youth Employment Network has placed up to 35 11th and 12th grade students each year from West Philadelphia high schools in internships with major area employers. In addition to work experience with employers such as Children’s Hospital, Drexel University, the National Board of Medical Examiners and Penn Law School, the Professional Internship program includes professional work readiness training, mentoring, college and career access programming. Students learn about work, and they learn the most important lesson of all: the connection between education and life-long success.

To apply for admission to the Professional Internship Program, download the Summer Jobs Application in the section above. You must be at least 16 years old to apply for a professional internship. You must submit a copy of your last report card with your application. The application is available from February 1 to March 30, 2012.

SMALL BUSINESS SERVICE

Small Business Service is an after-school program that connects high school students to local businesses, with an emphasis on small retailers. Students learn customer service and retail business operation skills and receive the same professional work readiness training that characterizes all WPSI programs.


Questions? Email Sheila Ireland at Sheila@universitycity.org

WPSI’s Youth Employment Network is supported by The Philadelphia Foundation, The Philadelphia Youth Network, and United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania