As summer rolls around, plans can look different depending on the person. For some, summer entails island hopping through Greece or making new friends at a sleep away camp. But others decide to sign up for MCPS’ Summer RISE program. Through this initiative, students spend a chunk of their summer vacation understanding what it would be like to have a job.

Summer RISE, which stands for Reimagining an Innovative Students Experience, is an initiative created by MCPS to give rising juniors and seniors an opportunity to work in a field of their interest. In addition to being a beneficial addition to a college application, students who finish their apprenticeship are given $500 for their work.

Students are required to select five fields that they have interest in and are given the opportunity to work and experience one of them for the duration of the program, which lasts around four to five weeks. There is a wide variety of fields available, ranging from health services to entrepreneurship.

“I did psychology, so I was in HR and I got to listen to people interviewing each other,” junior Lina Yu said.

While there are many fields to choose from, not everyone gets assigned their first choice. Even if some were upset by this outcome, it was not as much of a drawback as one may think.

“The career I chose was not the career they gave me. Even though it’s not my priority career, it gave me an opportunity to see what career or type of job I liked,” senior Luna Mesfin said.

Summer RISE helped participants build transferable skills that could be used from job to job, no matter the profession. Mesfin’s experience allowed her to gain general knowledge on how to function in a general working environment while Yu’s work in HR helped her gain insight into the hiring process.

“I got to see a lot of what they look for in interviews. I got to see people’s resumes and then what made the company pick certain people,” Yu said.

Summer RISE can also help students gain more reassurance in their college and career choices. Junior James Weissman worked at the Glenstone museum on the groundskeeping team and found the experience insightful.

“I already knew I wanted to do something environmental and the program has pretty much confirmed it,” Weissman said.
From making new friends to making some money, the benefits of Summer RISE are limitless. The program is offered every summer, giving students the continued opportunity to reap its benefits.