High School of Art and Design

Summer Jobs, Internships, Programs & Other Opportunities

 

 

INTERNAL RESOURCES

 

The High School of Art and Design itself can be a source of internships and summer jobs.

 

For example, Donna Lewis is in charge of the L.E.A.R.N. Program. This is a New York City Board of Education sponsored program that allows high school students to work in a part0time capacity in a professional office environment. L.E.A.R.N.–which stands for Link Education and Responsibility Now–offers half of minimum wage for private sector work, and full $5.15/hour wages for public sector jobs. This program provides incentive to small professional companies and public institutions to hire high school students and teach them about various industries.

 

This year the High School of Arts and Design has 13 students in the program. The types of firms include: architectural firms, a literary agency, advertising agencies, interior design comp0nies, fashion companies, non-profit organizations, marketing companies, the Parks Department, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This program is run by the School to Careers Center office at 439 West 49^th Street.

 

These jobs are held by juniors and seniors who express an interest, are recommended by their major art teacher, and do not attend any night school of after school. In other words, these students are up-to-date in their course work. The first 13 students to interview with a company and are hired are accepted in the program. After students complete the necessary paperwork--including updated working papers, social security number, and parental consent forms–each student is given a Board of Education payroll number. Each student is responsible for recording and turning in a time card to the L.E.A.R.N. coordinator (Ms. Lewis) every two weeks. The students are also responsible for picking up their checks according to a pay schedule. Ms. Lewis is available to students in her classroom 708 during period 6.

 

At the end of the year students show completion of a project. Junior usually keep weekly journals of what they did at work and seniors observe and make suggestions on how to improve a particular task in the work place. Credit is available. Ms. Lewis creates a summer roster for students and interested organizations.

 

Ms. Lewis also sends students on interviews after the 13 spaces are filled on a first come, first serve basis. Once in a while, freelance jobs are offered to deserving students in illustration and media.

 

Each year, the school gets an allotment (between three and five) of places for students to work at during the summer from the School Construction Authority. Recommendations for these architecture and interior jobs are based on student interest and maturity.

 

Each semester Ms. Lewis gives applications to "A" students for jobs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a lengthy application with teacher recommendations needed. The Whitney Museum also provides opportunities through its Youth-to-Youth program. Applications are due in April.

HELP WANTED

 

The High School of Arts and Design also posts summer jobs.

 

Currently there are two posted, as follows:

 

New York City's Park Conservation Corps; The Urban Park Rangers are the uniformed ambassadors of New York City's Emerald Empire–28,000 acres of green space, including 950 playgrounds, 614 playing fields, 550 tennis courts, 14 miles of beaches, 13 golf courses, four zoos, four botanical gardens, and more than 2.5 million trees. The Urban Park Rangers are looking to hire high school students to participate in a paid citywide ecological restoration program called the Parks Conservation Corps (PCC). Working in teams throughout the five boroughs, students will participate in a variety of outdoor projects. This activity will run from July through mid-August 2001. Participants must live in New York City and have completed the 9^th grade by July 1, 2001. To receive an application, call the PCC hotline at 212-360-8PCC.

 

The Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation is looking for students for summer counselor positions. Qualifications are: mature responsible student with background in sports and arts. Previous experience working with children preferred. Students can earn between $5.15-$9/hour. There are over 50 campsites throughout the five boroughs. You can contact the Foundation at 24-16 Queens Plaza South, Room 207, Long Island City, New York 11101. Phone 718-786-7110, Ext. 59. Fax: 718-786-7635.

 

External Resources

 

There are at least three (that we've found so far) organizations parents can contact:

·                          

·                         ACT-SO

·                         YES TO JOBS

·                         THE TORCH

 

ACT-SO is an acronym for Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics. It is sponsored by the NAACP. Eligible participants are African-American high school students who are citizens of the United States in grades 9-12 and are amateurs in various categories, including the performing arts, such as drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. It can be found at http://www.efn.org/~naacp/actso.html

 

YES TO JOBS–which stands for Youth Entertainment Summer–exposes deserving, minority, high school students to career options behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. Their deadline is April 1. It can be found at http://www.yestojobs.org/

 

THE TORCH–Together Our Resources Can Help–provides under-served New York City high school students with exposure, training and internships leading to careers in the communications and new media fields. The High School of Art and Design does not yet participate in this program. However, we have contacted the program's director, Ms. Debi Deutsch, and will make every effort to have the high school part of the program for the next academic year. 

 

A fourth external resource for summer jobs is a website titled Quintessential Careers. It can be found at http://www.quintcareers.com/summer_jobs_sites.html. There are numerous links at this site for summer jobs, including camp type jobs.

 

Other External Resources

 

Other external summer job resources include, of course, the newspaper, such as The New York Times.

However, if you are going to use newspaper and magazines as a way of finding jobs your better bet is to read the publications that the professionals read. For example in the advertising and marketing field, experts in the field read Advertising Age and Adweek Magazine.

 

Perhaps you are also aware of the thousands of advertising agencies, public relations agencies, and graphic arts, and new media companies in the New York metropolitan area that are always looking for inexpensive but eager to learn help. Of course, it is impossible to list all these companies here, but may I suggest that you and your kid take a trip to the New York Business Library located at 34^th Street and Madison Avenue and ask the reference librarians there to suggest a publication to read depending on the kind of company your child wants to work for or intern in.

 

You might also want to contact the Advertising Club of New York (Art and Design has a chapter), or the American Association of Advertising Agencies, or the Public Relations Society of America, or the New Media Associati0on (all in New York City) and ask for their internship or education coordinator.

Educational Opportunities: Cooper Union

 

In addition to internships and jobs, our kids are also eligible to participate in educational programs. Some are year-round, some last just through the summer.

 

One major institution that offers high school students both kinds of programs is The Cooper Union School of Art. Their materials, including applications forms, follows. In brief, Cooper Union offers a tuition free 4- and 7-week program. One for drawing, another longer program. During the year, Cooper Union also offers a Saturday Outreach Program which currently serves over 450 students.

There is also a CAP (Community Arts Partnership) Summer in New York City which meets out of the Jamaica Center in Queens. In this program there are also summer site visits to museums, galleries, artists' studios, centers and neighborhoods (with sketch books).

 

Other Educational Opportunities

 

Various other organizations offer educational and quasi-educational experiences. They are as follows:

 

The New York Film Academy

100 East 17^th Street

New York, NY 10003

212-674-4300

http://www.nyfa.com/

Offers a Summer Film Camp (ages 15-18)

 

New York Arts Students League

212-247-4510

http://www.artstudentsleague.org/

Offers a summer program as well as year-round classes

for high school students

 

The New York Historical Society

212-873-3400

 

The China Institute

212-744-8181

 

The Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences

718-727-1135 Ext 39

 

The Brooklyn Academy of Music

718-636-4130 Ext 1