SAN FERNANDO : High Schoolers Offered Business Internship

Some of San Fernando High School’s fledgling tycoons will soon have the opportunity to gain work experience through “IP ‘94”, a six-week internship program for business-minded seniors.

The program, sponsored by the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, will give a group of students the opportunity to gain work experience at a business that corresponds with their career interests, said Joe Sandoval, president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce.

“We want to see how we can get young people integrated with the business community,” Sandoval said. “It’s a way to have students learn something about what they have indicated is their field of interest. That way, if they have doubts, they have plenty of time to change their mind.”

About 15 students from the school’s Business Academy, a branch of the school formed last year to get students interested in business, will be paired up with 15 companies the week of April 18.

The students will report to the businesses for two hours every Monday and Thursday, earning 24 hours of work experience by the end of the program.

“They will see what it is like to actually be in the business world, what some of the responsibilities are,” said Arlene Rosenblatt, who is in charge of the Business Academy, which contains about 60 students. “And maybe if some of them do well enough they can get a job.”

The San Fernando Chamber of Commerce got the idea for the internship program after sponsoring a mentor program last October. In that program, about 50 students from the Business Academy spent a day learning how local businesses operate.