The Noble Network of Charter Schools is an open-enrollment public charter school network with 17 campuses across Chicago and over 12,000 students in grades 9 through 12. Their Winter Externship Program is an opportunity for alumni to be immersed in the workplace in order to gain a better understanding of a career field. Spirit staff members participated in this year's program by planning activities suited to our extern's intended majors: Communications and Spanish.
Among those who worked with our extern, Aldo G. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, were two members of our Marketing team, who supervised the primary project – an audit of our Instagram account.
"Aldo showed great efficiency throughout the week and came up with his own way to conduct the audit and analyze his findings with the basic guidance he was given. He made full use of his project time each day and was very independent and efficient. His interest in the project and in the company were also great bonuses," said Chelsea Scarnegie, Communications Coordinator.
Throughout the week, Aldo attended meetings, toured the workplace, met our partners, and spent time with other members of our organization. The experience provided a thorough introduction to the work that goes into being a J-1 visa sponsor and working with international partners.
"Aldo was eager to learn about Spirit’s Agent pre-screening process and observed a call with a potential new partner. When asked for his feedback, he provided spot on observations about the call. I appreciated the way he was flexible with the initial Skype difficulties and felt that he carried himself in a professional manner," said Kailei Kluck, Internship Account Executive.
Spirit continually seeks out new partnerships that coordinate with our overall mission of working together to develop a "spirit" of international peace and understanding. Local organizations like Noble provide a great way for staff members to work together with our local community and to encourage young people from a variety of backgrounds to learn about the extraordinary benefits of international exchange.
We concluded the externship with a "performance review" and some suggestions for Aldo's resume!
Thanks to this exciting new partnership with Noble, we will now be offering all qualified alumni a chance to receive our Ecuador Volunteer Scholarship. We look forward to continuing this partnership in the future!