High School Partners With Local Businesses To Offer Internships

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RBR pre-engineering teacher Daniel Pearce instructs his students in their architecture and design class. Pictured (left to right) are students Matt Tuomenoksa, Little Silver, Bill West, Shrewsbury, and Bill Terrarosa, Union Beach.

Students in Red Bank Regional High School’s (RBR) vocational academies gain real-world experience through summer internships in local businesses.
RBR operates four-year, state-approved vocational programs to prepare students for college study and careers in engineering, finance, and information technology. The programs were created in affiliation with national organizations including The National Academy Foundation and are advised by a board of local community business professionals. Academy students regularly participate in regional and national competitions with such organizations as Future Business Leaders, Technology Student Association and Project Lead the Way. RBR Information Technology students recently won two major national championships in the Air Force Association’s Cyber Patriot and NYU Poly High School Forensic competitions.
Students are required to fulfill summer internships following the completion of their junior year. RBR welcomes any business or institution in or near Monmouth County that would like to offer internships to academy students in the areas of engineering, architecture, municipal planning, building, finance, and insurance. IT students can aid any business looking for help with their information technology systems.
The students are interviewed and, once hired, they are given job performance reviews.
“This offers our students the opportunity to bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace through closely supervised employment experiences. In turn, the businesses receive some valuable help from students trained in industry-related functions,” says Pet Grandinetti, supervisor of the Business and Information Technology academies.
Engineering students have drafting knowledge and can read documents and architectural prints. They are exposed to digital electronics and circuitry. IT majors, whose studies concentrate on networking and computer science, can code at the college level and wire and configure a computer network. Finance majors study business ethics, financial planning, investments and insurance.
Area businesses that have participated in the internship program include T & M Associates in Middletown, the Naval Engineering Station in Lakehurst, Massa Montalto Architects in Neptune, Two River Community Fort Monmouth.
For information on providing summer internships or for serving on a board to advise the programs, contact Peter Grandinetti, (732) 842-8000, ext. 262 or email at pgrandinetti@rbrhs.org.