LEAP for Education Summer Work Program at Salem State

As the summer of 2023 approached, Sharon Rodriguez Santos from Salem High School was thinking about a career to empower women facing abuse. Lindsey Reyes from Salem High School was contemplating a career in architecture while Lukas Smith from Salem Academy Charter School dreamt about a possible career in game design or video production. Maria Barrios from Lynn English wanted to learn more about a career related to immigration policy.

At LEAP’s Summer Work Program, held at the Bertolon School of Business, these students, along with 93 other students from Lynn and Salem, were able to explore their interests more deeply with a 1:1 career mentor.

The results?

Ms. Santos created a 12-week curriculum course to address issues of femicide, rape, harassment and sexual abuse;

Mr. Smith created a Dungeons and Dragons movie trailer based on the latest release of the game;

Ms. Reyes designed a restaurant and created a 3-D interactive model of her restaurant using the multi platform video game Roblox;

and, Ms. Barrios created a podcast focused on conversations around family immigration stories.

All of this was done over 6 weeks and 120 hours. In total, 96 students completed projects centered on a career that they wanted to explore. All 96 students had a 1:1 mentor (matched based on similar interests) whom they met with at least once a week, sometimes virtually and sometimes in person. In between mentor meetings and workshops, students worked on their projects with the assistance of the LEAP staff.

LEAP ran 7 cohorts broken up between 9th and 10th graders, 11th and 12th graders, and English Language Learner cohorts. Each cohort had a lead facilitator and a group leader. Students enjoyed a local speaker series where they were able to choose a variety of careers to learn more about. They also got career and post-secondary readiness workshops conducted by LEAP staff and guest speakers.

With a grant from MassHire, all eligible students got paid at $15/hour and earned almost $2,000 for the summer.

In addition to partnering with the School of Business for use of the building, LEAP partnered with the School of Education who helped coordinate the logistics, and conducted a campus visit and a workshop on college admissions. Salem State education students were also hired as group leaders.

Once again, we want to invite education students to apply for openings in our upcoming 2024 Summer Work Program, which will take place Mon-Thurs on campus at SSU-BSB. Dates are July 8 – August 15, 9am-4pm with some onboarding/training hours beginning in June.

There will be openings for Group Leaders, Mentor Liaisons, Behavior Specialists, and Administrative/Program Coordinators.

To find out more,please reach out to Elizabeth Grella, Director of High School & Post-Secondary Programs: egrella@leap4ed.org.