Bainbridge Youth Services introduced its first annual Kitsap County High School Summer Intern program this summer.

The program employed 15 interns from across Kitsap County and the majority of the six week internships ran from early July through mid-August.

Sam Clarke, a BYS Board Champion for the program, designed the program “as a way for youth to learn skills, traits that employers need, acquire significant knowledge, experience and career opportunities, while boosting their self esteem.”

The BYS program extends across Kitsap County, accessing employers from many industries and cities. To qualify, interns had to be a junior or senior in high school and reside in Kitsap County.

The paid position program launched internships with 11 employers across Kitsap County, including: Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, Kingston Chamber of Commerce, city of Bainbridge Island, city of Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation, Harrison Medical Center, Bainbridge Island Blueberry Farm, Kingston CPA, Kitsap Regional Library, and Papa Murphy’s.

When the program commenced in July, interns looked forward to working in a professional environment, meeting new people, learning information that expanded beyond their usual scope of interests, and having experiences that reinforced their current interest in a particular field. Interns said they appreciated the opportunity for paid internship experience, the acquisition of skills and the ability to learn traits and values critical to discovering success in the workplace.

In a post-internship survey, interns responded that they were introduced to the various aspects of the business where they respectively interned. Many of them found their positions to be interesting and educational.

Henry Milander, an intern with the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, recounted: “In my internship, I really liked the dynamic environment and rapport that developed between me and my co-workers. On any project, I could do my own part knowing that they would do theirs and vice-versa.”

Employers were impressed with their passionate, hard-working and talented interns. Through the program, the 15 participants interned a sum of 3,000 hours.

Bainbridge Youth Services looks forward to launching the program again this coming summer 2015 with intern applications becoming available in spring 2015.

For questions, contact BYS at 206-842-9675.