Richardson Mayor Paul Voelker and RISD Superintendent Dr. Jeannie Stone celebrated the Richardson Mayor’s Summer Internship Program at an end-of-summer celebration at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts. They were joined this week by dozens of interns, employers, elected officials and sponsors along with five interns who shared their testimonials—Zoe Walker, Hilal Salahudeen, Allegria Manganiello, Jaelin Booker and Tasmuna Omar.
During the event, Mayor Voelker and Dr. Stone proudly reported the following achievements of the 2021 program:
- 186 students applied for the program and 114 students completed workforce-readiness training
- 96 students participated in the Job Fair and 43 students received internships, working both remotely and in person
- Whether they received an internship or not, every student walked away having benefited from experiencing the various steps of the workforce process
They told of a new program where professionals volunteered to serve as “virtual mentors,” conducting Zoom sessions to help students build their resumes and interview skills.
They also expressed pride in a community service program the 2021 interns conceived, organized and volunteered for called the Healthy Kids Snack Drive. The interns collected more than 7,500 items through in-person and virtual food drives used to create 1,800 snack bags. They joined Network of Community Ministries to distribute the snacks to families at the Richardson ISD Backpack Bash.
Mayor Voelker encouraged other businesses to support the 2022 program.
Website: www.rmsip.org
