California Intern Summer 2000 Pairs Students,Educators With Local Businesses for...

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2000

This summer, thousands of students and educators will trade surfboards for boardrooms as part of California Intern Summer 2000, a statewide educational campaign designed to facilitate valuable internship experiences.

The Governor's School-to-Career Advisory Council and the California School-to-Career Office have joined forces to spearhead the inaugural effort. Their efforts are supported by more than 42 local School-to-Career partnerships throughout the state.

"Internships provide a unique opportunity to make the world of work come alive for our students," said David Rattray, president of UNITE-LA, a Southern California School-to-Career partnership. "They get to see how basic academic skills, such as reading, math, and science, are applied in the workplace, explore future career paths, gain hands-on experience and, at the same time, become inspired and motivated by successful adults."

Employers reap benefits as well. By participating in California Intern Summer 2000, employers will have opportunities to:

-- Work with enthusiastic and creative students who may one day

become employees

-- Help to create a more skilled and qualified local workforce

-- Realize reduced recruitment and training costs

"Student interns are valuable members of my staff," attested Mark Abernathy of Abernathy Insurance, an independent insurance agency. "We've had student interns in the office for the past three months and it has been a tremendous benefit. They have increased productivity and my employees really enjoy working with them."

While students will likely represent the highest number of interns involved in California Intern Summer 2000, educators will play a critical role as well. Through their participation, educators will gain a first-hand look at the skills critical to today's rapidly changing workforce and can take that information back to the classroom as an integral part of an innovative curriculum.

Ultimately, the success of California Intern Summer 2000 rests on the support of the business community. Businesses of all sizes -- from "Mom and Pop" establishments to Fortune 500 companies -- are encouraged to participate. The duration and schedule of an internship can vary to accommodate the needs of an office as well as the ability of staff to dedicate time to working with student interns. Student and educator internships can be paid or unpaid.

"In today's booming economy and tight labor market, internships are an excellent way for companies to `test drive' future employees. Internships provide invaluable workplace experience for students, while helping employers keep recruitment costs and employee turnover to a minimum. It's a win-win situation," explained Rattray.

California Intern Summer 2000 offers a variety of resources to help match employers with qualified student interns. This year, business people, educators, and students can visit a new Web site, www.Internsummer.com, for more information. The site is being hosted by LA Internet.com, a division of Internet Businesses International (IBUI).

"We've chosen to support California Intern Summer 2000 by providing this Web site because we believe it is imperative to build our fast-changing economy through unique educational initiatives," said Al Reda, CEO of IBUI. "As a group of Internet companies that has experienced unprecedented growth in the past year, we recognize that internships and work-based learning programs will enable us to meet our future demands for qualified employees."

California Intern Summer 2000 receives additional support from Bank of America, Xerox and the Automobile Club of Southern California. In addition, CBS-2 and Emmis Communications Power 106, along with its Knowledge is Power Foundation, support School-To-Career with tremendous outreach to students and businesses.

For more information on how your business or organization can become involved, call UNITE-LA at 213/482-3987 or the state School-to-Career office at 800/962-8821.

About School-To-Career:

School-to-Career is an educational initiative that provides students of all ages with a wide range of education and career development options. The goal of School-to-Career is to make classroom learning more relevant, inspiring students to commit themselves to life-long learning and preparing them for successful, high-skill, well-paid careers within today's competitive job market.