Manpower and the Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High Partner to Place High School Students in Academic Internships With Local Companies.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2002

Innovative Pilot Program Uses Staffing Agency To Help

Charter School Internship Program

Some of the biggest challenges facing today's youth are learning how to be successful in the workplace.

Often a recent high school graduate may possess a solid background in academic studies but lack the skills needed to successfully navigate though career planning and interviews. High Tech High (HTH) recognizes this fact and has developed an academic internship program that encourages students to explore and learn about the world of work while still in high school so that they can be more prepared as they move from high school to college.

This innovative program has been met with great success in the community, with students finding out what the "real world" is like. Currently in its second trimester of development, the internship program has approximately 30 students currently interning. In the last two trimesters there have been 65 placements in 22 companies in the greater San Diego area from technical organizations such as SPAWAR Systems Center, Qualcomm Inc., and Kyocera Wireless, to non-profits like Junior Achievement and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., to small firms like Peji Design and Inter@activate. The active number of students out each trimester is expected to increase to 60 to 75 students when HTH reaches full enrollment of 400.

"These first two trimesters have been successful, but we still consider ourselves in a test-mode of sorts," said Caleb Clark, academic internship coordinator at High Tech High. "One of the most challenging aspects of this program so far has been getting the students prepared and figuring out logistical issues for getting the students to the worksite for interviews. Successful internship programs are very resource intensive so we're always looking for creative ways to get help."

Enter Manpower Staffing Services of San Diego.

Manpower (NYSE:MAN) is working with High Tech High in the development of a pilot program that will test the relationship of using a staffing agency to help a public school teach students about the workplace. The pilot program began March 27.

"We can offer the students access to our skilled group of professionals who are willing to help them through the interview process," said Ed Hidalgo of Manpower. "There are so many things that need to be learned when preparing for an interview, from filling out an application correctly to asking the right questions to being ready to answer difficult questions. In fact, these are key factors in the employer's first impression of the applicant. What we want to do is have the student as prepared as possible to set them up for the highest chance of success."

For this program Manpower is interviewing students onsite at HTH to alleviate the logistical difficulties of getting the students out to the interviews. Manpower will then work with interested companies and suggest possible internship matches to HTH who, ultimately, will make the final placement decision.

The pilot program's first employer is XETV (FOX 6), which hopes to mentor three to four students. "We are approaching this pilot program very carefully," said Clark. "Our internship program is one of the most important learning curriculums that we offer. It's more then just going somewhere and working for 8 hours a week. We add to the internship experience classroom time each week in their humanities classes where students use the internship as a primary text."

Each student is required to create a culminating experience project that they present to administrators, teachers and students about the lessons and skills learned in the internship.

"It is our hope that we can build this pilot program into one that more than 50 students per trimester can participate in interviews conducted at High Tech High," said Hidalgo. "We will continue to look for more companies that can offer the students internship jobs in technology, humanities and marketing fields. Our goal is to give them a tangible set of skills that can be used throughout their professional careers."

About High Tech High School

The Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High Charter School is a bold innovation in public education. Launched in September 2000 by an industry and educator coalition, High Tech High occupies a newly designed learning space at the former Naval Training Center in San Diego. A small, diverse learning community with a projected enrollment of 400 students, HTH is founded on three design principles: personalization, adult-world connection, and a common intellectual mission. Innovative features include performance-based assessment, daily shared planning time for staff, state-of-the-art technical facilities for project-based learning, internships for all students and close links to the high tech workplace. See: http://www.hightechhigh.org for more information.

About Manpower San Diego

Manpower Staffing Services of San Diego was started in 1977 and is owned by Phil Blair and Mel Katz. The franchise consistently ranks as one of the largest employers in San Diego and Riverside Counties and supports businesses through their 11 local offices. Each day, Manpower assigns approximately 4,000 skilled temporaries to jobs in office, retail, industrial and technical areas. All Manpower offices are registered and certified to ISO 9002 by the Quality Management Institute (QMI). ISO 9002 is one of five standards associated with the ISO 9000 series, the international standard of quality for all businesses.