American Graduate Public Media Stations Offer Students Career Exploration Opportunities

This summer, public media stations nationwide will offer a variety of internship programs that give students an opportunity to explore and experience careers in broadcasting, communications, journalism and media production as a way to keep youth interested and engaged in education outside the classroom.

Research shows that more than 80 percent of high school dropouts say they might have stayed in school if they had more real-world learning opportunities and they understood how their class work related to their future goals. Over the next few months, nearly 20 public radio and television stations will host internships and youth media workshops to introduce students to potential career opportunities and provide valuable work experience, as part of American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen – a public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. American Graduate summer internships will enable students to learn about media production, journalism and broadcast engineering as they write, shoot and edit short documentaries, public service announcements and interstitials about the dropout crisis in their communities. These experiences are beneficial in helping students enhance their 21st century skills—problem solving, storytelling, creative thinking, information and technology skills, and interpersonal skills—which are essential for success in today’s job market.