Bergen County Internships: Opportunities for High School Students

For high school students in Bergen County looking to gain valuable experience and explore potential career paths, a variety of internship opportunities are available. These programs offer hands-on learning, skill development, and exposure to different industries, helping students make informed decisions about their future. This article explores some of the internship programs available in Bergen County, catering to diverse interests and needs.

Project SEARCH Transition-to-Work Program

The Project SEARCH Transition-to-Work Program represents a unique, business-led initiative focused on employment preparation for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This one-year program takes place entirely within a workplace setting, emphasizing total workplace immersion and the attainment of competitive employment within the community for every program graduate.

Core Principles of Project SEARCH

The Project SEARCH model encompasses an extensive period of skills training and career exploration, innovative adaptations, long-term job coaching, and continuous feedback from instructors, skills trainers, and business mentors. Interns not only acquire hard and soft skills but also learn the expectations of employers in both the recruitment process and the workplace.

Eligibility and Application

High school program participants must agree to accept their diploma and exit the school system upon program completion. They may enter the program during the school term in which the student turns 21 years old or earlier if they decide to graduate. Many successful students come to Project SEARCH after 1-2 years in traditional transition programs. Interns are typically referred to the program through their schools, 18 to 21 programs, a family member, or a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.

Interested candidates must apply to be considered for acceptance into the program. Applications are accepted year-round. The Bergen County Project SEARCH Advisory Committee carries out the selection process, which includes an application packet review, hands-on assessments, interviews, and scoring on a rubric related to entrance considerations.

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Program Structure and Curriculum

Project SEARCH utilizes a combination of classroom instruction and workplace internships. Participants attend the program for nine months at the host business site. Each site can accommodate up to 12 interns. Throughout the program year, the interns work on employability and functional skills for approximately one hour a day in the training room.

Project SEARCH interns complete three different workplace rotations over the course of the program. The first internship or rotation is typically assigned by the Project SEARCH staff with input from the interns. The remaining rotations are a joint decision of the intern, Project SEARCH staff, and the employer. Working from a task list, they acquire the core skills necessary to be hired in an entry-level position at the host business site or within the community. Once the interns master the core skills, additional skills are layered on to improve their marketability. Individualized job development ramps up during the last few months of the program. Job development is based on the intern’s experiences, strengths, interests, and skills. Upon satisfactory completion of the program, interns receive a Career Portfolio.

Key Features

Workplace Immersion: The program takes place entirely at the workplace, providing real-world experience.
Skills Training: Interns receive extensive skills training and career exploration opportunities.
Job Coaching: Long-term job coaching and continuous feedback are provided by instructors, skills trainers, and business mentors.
Competitive Employment: The goal is competitive employment within the community for every program graduate.
Career Portfolio: Upon satisfactory completion of the program, interns receive a Career Portfolio.

Career & Academic Internship Program

The Career & Academic Internship Program is designed for rising high school seniors in the summer and Grade 12 seniors during the school year who are in good academic standing, on track for meeting graduation requirements, and have passed the state assessment requirement. Students may earn up to 20 elective credits each year through an approved career & academic internship experience in an area of career interest. Summer Career & Academic Internships (Work-based Learning) provide rising seniors with hands-on authentic workplace experiences over the course of 4-5 weeks during the summer.

Program Details

Qualifying high school seniors may elect to participate in the Career and Academic Internships Program. These experiences are structured, supervised activities that may take place in a workplace or agency or a non-profit community organization. Career and academic internship experiences are experiential, supervised educational activities designed to provide students with exposure to the requirements and responsibilities of specific job titles or job groups, and to assist them in gaining employment skills and making career and educational decisions. A work-based learning experience may be either paid or unpaid, depending on the type of activities in which the student is involved. All work-based learning experiences must adhere to applicable state and federal child labor laws and other rules of the State Departments of Education and Labor.

Bergen County Sheriff's Office Internship Opportunities

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office offers a variety of internship opportunities to qualified high school and college students to give them real working experience in the field of law enforcement.

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Youth Law Enforcement Leadership Academy

The Youth Law Enforcement Leadership Academy is designed for young adults interested in law enforcement, county government, the judiciary system, and emergency services. Unlike other traditional police academies, the Youth Law Enforcement Leadership Academy is an ongoing program for middle and high school students between the ages of 12 and 19. Cadets learn teamwork, sportsmanship, integrity, and self-respect, and are given the opportunity to broaden their understanding of the challenges and skills that make up their community’s police service.

Bergen County Youth Police Academy

The Bergen County Youth Police Academy is an intensive, two-week course that brings together high school students from around Bergen County and familiarizes them with the activities of officers at all levels of law enforcement. Daily programs include presentations from educators, interaction with county agencies, structured events, and field trips.

Sheriff’s Training and Redirection Team (S.T.A.R.T.)

Each year, many children and teenagers in our communities find themselves standing in front of a judge due to juvenile delinquency. The Sheriff’s Training and Redirection Team (S.T.A.R.T.) program is an intensive, 10-day program run in cooperation with the Bergen County Family Court, the Bergen County Division of Family Guidance, and the Bergen County Probation Department. The program is designed to turn criminal tendencies into positive behavior through structured events that promote emotional growth, personal development, behavior modification, and positive reinforcement.

Additional Programs and Demonstrations

Presentations on Personal Safety: The Sheriff's Office conducts presentations for student groups on a variety of personal safety topics.
Gold Star ID Program: The Gold Star Identification Program provides first responders with vital medical information in the event of an emergency.
High Intensity Talks (HIT): Special presentations made by adults who are presently incarcerated for minor, non-violent crimes.
K-9 Team Demonstrations: Highlighting the functions and capabilities of these highly trained and sophisticated dogs.
Sheriff’s Alcohol Impaired Driving Program: Utilizing Fatal Vision Goggles to simulate a blood alcohol content of .17 by altering depth perception and hand eye coordination.
Bergen County Jail Tour: Providing a tour of this around-the-clock operation.
Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI): Officers conduct informative tours on the day-to-day operations of this Bureau.

Bergen County Business Internship Program

Bergen County business owners can receive up to ten hours of complimentary project-based services tailored to their needs. Business owners select the focus of their projects, which have included tasks such as social media management, competitor research, flyer design, setting up a Google Business profile, sourcing new suppliers, gathering customer testimonials, and providing photography or video services. Bergen Community College students from any major have the opportunity to participate in a paid internship, offering valuable consulting services to small business owners at no cost.

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