Stamford's Mayor's Youth Employment Program has wrapped up its third summer. For five weeks, 75 high school students and graduates interned at various Stamford companies and nonprofits.
"So we match jobs by skills and abilities to the job they have but also it's a continuous development for the students," said Cathy Bertasso, director of the Mayor's Youth Employment Program.
The goal of the program is to give students real world working experience. Friday, the city held a closing ceremony to celebrate the students' achievements.
"I've learned a lot like leadership skills and communication skills. Communication was a big thing at my job," said Christie Carrenard, who interned at SoundWaters this summer.
"The people in my group -- we had four people at SoundWaters. The people in my group -- they're so funny and we clicked right away, so it was really cool," said Wendy Petion, who also interned at SoundWaters.
"It just has been such a success and it's so wonderful to see the program grow and to see what an impact it has on the students," said Bertasso.
The program's grown from just 30 jobs in its first year. It was created by Mayor Michael Pavia and the City's Youth Services Bureau.