Congrats To The Public Safety Academy Student Interns!

From the Fairfield Police Department:

Today’s youth face a variety of challenges entering the job market, including brisk competition from those that already have work experience.

Helping teens and young adults become successful as prospective employees is a high priority for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, the City of Fairfield and its Police Department, and the Solano County Probation Department. Working toward that goal, all four organizations partnered with the Council for a Strong America to create a paid internship program to give local teens job experience and formal training on how to be successful employees. The program was paid for using grant funding from the Council for a Strong America, “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids” initiative.

Four sophomores from the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Public Safety Academy (PSA) were selected as paid interns for a one-month summer job-training program. The PSA students were Jackie Ibarra, Diana Ramirez, Tyrese Soriano, and Brenda Millan.

All of the interns worked 20-hours per week under the supervision of Police and Probation Department staff during the program. At the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Governing Board meeting, all four student interns were recognized for their successful completion of the program.

During their internship, PSA student interns Jackie Ibarra, Diana Ramirez, and Tyrese Soriano worked at the Fairfield PAL Center for two weeks each and participated in an orientation of workplace ethics and professionalism. They became familiar with community based programs such as PAL and the Sullivan Interagency Youth Services Center. They also learned to develop and implement activities at the PAL Center.

Next, they worked for one week each in the Police Records Unit and the Code Enforcement Unit. All three interns learned important office skills such as how to scan and file reports, how to work effectively with supervisors and co-workers, and they were exposed in a safe and controlled environment to the inner-workings of the Police Department.

PSA Student Intern Brenda Millan worked at the Solano County Probation Department. She learned how Probation Officers assess the needs of their clients, how they develop strategies to help probationers successfully complete the program, and she learned the inner workings of the Probation Department.

All four PSA student interns performed spectacularly during the program and received rave reviews for their work ethic from the Police and Probation staff that they worked with. Having completed this internship the students are much better prepared to seek employment. They now have job experience that they can list on their resumes, they received formal job training, and they have a better understanding of career fields that interest them.

On behalf of the Fairfield Police Department, Fairfield PAL Program, and Solano County Probation Department, we thank the Council for a Strong America and the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District for their partnership in helping teens grow into successful adults.