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AGENDA BILL Agenda Item No. 4 Date: August 19, 2014 To: El Cerrito City Council From: Suzanne Iarla, Community Outreach Specialist Subject: EC STARS Internship Program ACTION REQUESTED Receive a presentation regarding the 2014 El Cerrito Students Training and Ready for Success (“EC STARS”) Internship Program. Suzanne Iarla, Community Outreach Specialist will provide a brief overview of the program, and each intern will speak about their experience. BACKGROUND This is the second year of the El Cerrito Students Training And Ready for Success Program, also known as EC STARS. The program is a summer internship program in partnership with the Information Technology and the Media Academies at El Cerrito High School. In addition to working approximately 10-20 hours per week in a city office, the interns also attend a weekly class with Mr. Corey Mason for academic credit. Mr. Mason led the EC STARS class in both 2013 and 2014. This year, there were eight interns in seven City Departments: 2014 EC STARS Department / Division Mentor Intern Recreation Vivian Brandt, Recreation Supervisor Leonardo Mendoza Community Development/Planning Sean Moss, Senior Planner Monet Boyd Public Works Garth Schultz, Environmental Services Manager Evan Martinez City Management Suzanne Iarla, Community Outreach Specialist Saleh Alkaheli & Joseph Baba City Management Human Resources Cheryl Mosby, Human Resources Technician Daniel Malle Finance Geoff Thomas, Finance Manager Richard Mazon Fire Mike Pigoni, Battalion Chief Travis Wan ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 4 Former Human Resources Manager Sukari Beshears developed the program in 2013 and coordinated the recruitment this year. After Ms. Beshears' departure in June, Community Outreach Specialist Suzanne Iarla coordinated the program and worked closely with Mr. Mason. ANALYSIS The EC STARS program offers students learning opportunities in a variety of fields, while enriching public service for the City. The primary goal of the EC STARS Intern Program is to have a positive impact on youth by connecting them to local government employment through skill building. City staff strives to ensure that the students have a clear understanding of basic employment rules and requirements, employer goals and expectations, and obtain the necessary information to perform well in a structured educational setting as well as on the job. The program will achieve this goal by accomplishing the following objectives: 1. Enhance the basic educational skills of the students 2. Encourage school completion 3. Expose youth to career options and opportunities 4. Direction to enter into career paths 5. Offer part-time work 6. Divert youth from anti-social behavior 7. Assist youth with inter-personal relations 8. Provide guidance and assistance 9. Introduce youth to the world of work 1 0. Enhance other 21st Century skills Based on feedback from the mentors and interns, we feel the program was a success again this year. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS The cost for each employee intern was allocated by department based on actual hours worked. Page 2