Pelham PACT Hires 12 Summer Interns to Study Public Space for Pelham Teens

Pelham PACT has hired twelve Pelham Memorial High School students to work as its 2015 PACT Summer Interns. This year, the program – which is twice as big as last year’s -- includes rising freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. The hirees are: Joseph Catalano, Eanya Lian C. Dychauco, Ashley Flores, Linda Jaimes, Alexander Kougasian, Oliver Nassiri, Arielle O’Connor, Elody Paulino, Karla Pennetta, Ascensy Perez, Leana Rutt, and Ramon Velez, Jr.

This summer the interns are working on a project to determine the feasibility of creating a local public space for teens, something that Pelham doesn’t currently have. The group is using the Stanford Design School’s Project Bootleg design thinking process, which draws on a variety of disciplines to make design projects a reality. This will ultimately lead the interns to explore why teens do the things that they do. They’ll also study what current opportunities are available for teens in Pelham, the opportunities that the community is missing that teens feel they need; and how to make information steadily available to local youth.

Ultimately, this project will highlight the overarching themes of empowerment, advocacy, and leadership that are central to PACT’s mission. At the internship’s end, the teens will write a feasibly report highlighting the research and data they collected throughout the summer. The group will then give a formal presentation of their report at PACT’s Town Hall meeting in October, along with serving on PACT’s Youth Leadership Council during the school year.

This is the fourth year PACT has had a summer internship program. PACT is a community coalition encouraging youth to make healthy, safe and substance-free choices. Visit PACT at pelhampact.org, or “Like” the organization on Facebook or follow PACT on Twitter @pelhampact.