Five Providence-area students selected for Bank of America internship program

Five local rising seniors and recent graduates, Emma Fitzelle-Jones, Sara Murray, Yi Feng, Monitea Minea, and Ryan Gomes, have been chosen to participate in Bank of America’s 2014 Student Leaders program. The initiative awards a total of 225 community-minded high school juniors and seniors from around the country with paid eight-week summer internships at local nonprofit organizations.

All of the students are interning at the Boys and Girls Club this summer, with Emma, Sara, and Yi working at the Providence branch, while Monitea and Ryan work at the organization’s office in Pawtucket.

Emma, a rising senior at the Rocky Hill School in Warwick, teaches Sunday school and volunteers at the Warwick Public Library and R.I Community Food Bank.

Sara, who recently graduated from Providence’s Mount Pleasant High School, mentors “freshman at risk,” underclassmen who are on the verge of repeating the ninth grade, and is a longtime volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club. She hopes to open up a hospital someday in Liberia, her paternal homeland.

Yi, a recent graduate of Cranston High School East, serves as Vice President of Family, Career, Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), a humanitarian-based student organization that promotes personal growth and leadership development through family and consumer science education.

Rising senior Monitea moved to the United States from Cambodia with her family at the age of seven. That experience has motivated her to volunteer at Miriam Hospital as well as through student mentoring at her school, the William E. Tolman School in Pawtucket.

Ryan, who also hails from Pawtucket, recently graduated from the Jacqueline M. Walsh School. He plans on becoming a film scorer, a performing jazz guitarist as well as a music teacher. He volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club, where he works on a number of activities, including, of course, teaching music.

The Student Leaders program was launched in 2004 when the average rate of youth unemployment (age 16-19) was just under 17 percent. A decade later, the situation has only gotten worse – youth unemployment currently sits at 21 percent and overall unemployment numbers in Rhode Island numbers are some of the highest in the country. These circumstances make opportunities like Students Leaders more critical than ever, enabling students to gain the valuable skills and on-the-job experience they need to secure rewarding employment in the future.

“As teens in Rhode Island struggle to find meaningful work experience, internships like these provide invaluable on-the-job training at local nonprofits,” said Bill Hatfield, Rhode Island president, Bank of America. “It’s a win-win that makes our neighborhoods stronger while helping these outstanding students become future leaders.”

In addition to the paid internships, the students recently attended a week-long Bank of America Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Summit activities included a service learning project and a series of interactive workshops, including Capitol Hill briefings and sessions on financial education and leadership development skills. The students gained a deeper understanding of how service creates positive change and how corporate, nonprofit and government collaboration can revitalize communities.