As part of a Professional Development component, students learned about community involvement and toured WHYY Public Radio, Einstein Health Network, Civil Court, and Philadelphia’s new Community Health and Literacy Center on S. Broad.

Outcomes were as follows: students were exposed to new activities such as supervising youth, being accountable for their time and pay, marching with the DNC, drafting press releases, and learning about customer service. One intern at St Christopher’s Hospital said, “I got an opportunity to see what my future can look like. I want to work in a hospital, and now I know a lot of medical directors I can talk to.”  Another student confessed, “at first it was confusing because I was doing things I never saw before: talking to newspaper people, marching, but then it was cool.”

Many students said they would like to work again next summer. City-wide agencies employed approximately 7000 teens, and while that is no easy task, the fruits of the labor rest in the doing and in the research. According to Penn’s Criminology Professor Dr. Sara Heller, when teens work, crime decreases and student behavior increases with constructive activities and increased responsibility. From a public health perspective, employing individuals and providing opportunities to learn and grow yields healthier societies.