By Dan McGrath
A total of nine Leo students spent part of the summer in internships that gave them a look at possible career paths.
Juniors Emmanuel Johnson and Zyaire Campbell were selected to spend a week at the University of Maryland for the Exelon Foundation’s STEM Academy, where energy professionals demonstrated how and why STEM courses – science, technology, engineering and math – can be a gateway to a career in the energy field.
Leo has enjoyed a partnership with Exelon through VP Paula Conrad, who in May organized a visit to Leo by Exelon CEO Calvin Butler and 30 company volunteers. They discussed their roles at Exelon and the courses they had taken and the training they had undergone to prepare for them.
Leo is also involved in a solar-energy training program with IBEW Local 134.
Establishing a working knowledge of the financial services industry was the goal of the Equitrust Life Insurance Job-Sharing Pilot Program which Ms. Krashania Cummings made available to the Leo seniors Aiden Lott, Scott Millsap Jr. and Joshua Smith; junior Derrion Anderson and sophomores Nehemiah Lane, Rashard Maybell and Emmanuel Smith.
During the two-week program the students observed the functions of various Equitrust departments, shadowed different workers and sat in on project meetings, with an emphasis on accounting, investing and client relations.
As was the case with Exelon, the Equitrust pros took time to meet with the students, explain their roles and offer advice on the training necessary for such a role if financial services appealed to them as a career.
Mrs. Yolanda Sandifer Horton, Leo’s Director of Community Engagement, took the lead in bringing both programs to our students.