Americas High School senior Luke Craft spent his summer break working on his communication, time management, and problem-solving skills.
Craft was one of more than 30 high school students in the Socorro Independent School District who seized the opportunity to participate in the Spectrum Internship Experience, a paid learning-intensive program for high school juniors and seniors. The program provided them with essential business insights and hands-on experience.
“This opportunity is just so great for me and all the others who were accepted into this (program),” said Craft, a Spectrum video repair representative. “I saw this as an opportunity to get a job; it pays well and has great benefits.”
Interns were selected from business, audio/video and other SISD Career and Technical Education areas from a list of students CTE administrators provided to Spectrum representatives, who then made their final selection.
Socorro ISD had the most students selected for the program than any other local school district, with 24 juniors and a handful of seniors.
“The Spectrum program was developed to provide high school rising juniors an opportunity to work for a better than average wage with benefits,” said Career and Technical Education Program Director George Thomas.
Thomas said after the internship, students would be eligible for part-time work during their senior year with an opportunity to become full-time employees after graduation.
“In essence, they get an early start to a potential career with a highly rated company with potential to grow professionally within,” he said. “They are tapping into some of our best talent early and training them to be successful within their company.”
During the summer break, interns received paid training to become video repair representatives who answer calls related to customer service, video and IT. Interns focused on their communication and customer service skills and learned about the company’s newest products and services.
“We always assure customers that we’re there to help them,” said Craft, who helps callers with their cable boxes or to restore lost signals. “We have a lot of different websites or software that Spectrum employees exclusively use for us to check signals on the box.”
High school juniors earn $18.50 an hour and seniors make $20.50 an hour, plus benefits. During their senior year, students are also eligible to receive a college scholarship from the company to pursue their higher education.
Socorro ISD CTE Business Coordinator Brenda Gonzalez said that it is not every day that a student comes across an opportunity such as this one that offers hands-on, real-world experience, a paid internship with benefits, and even scholarship opportunities. “To have a company like Spectrum, be part of the student success we strive for here at SISD is something to be celebrated,” Gonzalez said. “We are thankful to everyone who had a part in making this happen.”