24 Aug 2015 Summer Intern Showcase
After a summer of learning, collaboration and co-creation, our nine StepUp AchieveMpls interns recently presented their accomplishments to parents, partners and the community. Over the course of the last three months, the young tech enthusiasts immersed themselves in the fundamentals of web and graphic design, which equipped them to create their own personal digital portfolios and develop marketing collateral for another non-profit in North Minneapolis.
“I always wanted to learn about design and photo manipulation, and at Rêve Academy, we got to work with Illustrator and Photoshop,” says Grisell Cruz Garcia, a student at Patrick Henry High School who is preparing to study Computer Science in college. “But one thing that really stuck with me was learning about brand architecture. Now, every time I see a logo, I see more than just a picture.”
From storyboard to wireframing to fully-functioning website, students learned to tell their stories and present their resumes in compelling ways to kick start their professional future.
“This internship taught me many things that I would have learned in the near future in college,” said Amina Sharif, a senior from Al-Amal School who strives to become a Computer Engineer. “And because of this, I now have a head start and will be able to succeed.”
“The skills I have gained will not only help me in the future, but are already helping me run my own business. I do logo design, and now I can also do web design,” said Najeedah Johnson, a 2015 graduate of Thomas Edison High School, who dreams of a career as a computer engineer or software designer and using her skills to do good in the world. “I feel like the internship has helped me immensely,” said David Ennest, a current student at North High School whose dream is to attain a PhD in Microbiology and join the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).”Many people just go and look at a website, and that’s it. But because of these new resources, I can now look deeper and explore questions such as “How was this coded?” and “How does this work?”
Many of our 2015 summer interns hope to return to work in the Academy in the future and take on more project management responsibilities as senior inters.