Elmont students learn from local businesses interning

Local students are learning about local business from mentors and by working with clientele this summer as part of the inaugural Gift of Giving Student Ambassador program.

Nine students are participating in the six-week hands-on internship. Interns are paid through Gift of Giving Corporation at no cost to the business.

“They wanted to take on something different and challenge themselves this summer,” program director  Elizabeth Forbes said.

Forbes continues to raise money to pay interns for their work through the Gift of Giving fundraising process. Six businesses or civic offices stepped up to participate in the program.

“It’s great to see that when you reach a certain level in life, you still want to give back,” Forbes said.

Ahmed Zaky of A2Z Auto Masters wants to give back. He has high school senior Andrew Forbes and sophomore Zyddon Powell interning with him this summer.

“I’ve been with the program since it first started, so I’d like to stay with the program,” Zaky said. “And help as many boys and girls as we can.”

Throughout the internship, Andrew and Powell learned from Zaky how to work with customers and service cars with oil changes, tire changes and replacing motors.

“He’s a good teacher,” Andrew said.

The internship has solidified Andrew’s ambition to enter the auto repair field. He learned about the program from his guidance counselor.

Additionally, he credits the program with the improvement of his communication skills.

“The program is nice. It taught me a lot of communication skills,” Andrew said.

Summit Physical Therapy is providing incoming college student Linsey Swift with an internship to assist her with learning to better communicate with the public and provide physical therapy to patients. While studying what physical therapists do, Swift has enjoyed an education about muscles and nerves.

“I help with creating the hot packs and help patients with exercises,” Swift said. “I also learn about diseases. My supervisor likes to give me homework and we review it the next day.”

Swift learned about the program through her high school where she received a letter of recommendation to take part in the program. Like all the interns, she was involved in the organization’s business previews throughout the year and the multicultural expo last month.

“I thought that it was going to give me motivation and help me be a better speaker and advocate for myself,” Swift said. “And it did.”

Her supervisor at Summit, Randy Bowen, said he wants to continue to participate in the program and bring on a new intern next year.

“If we can help, why not?” Bowen said.

As an intern in the program, high school senior Ava Peterkin is working with Joann Seeno at Exit Realty United learning the real estate industry.

Similar to the other interns at the other businesses, Peterkin is improving her communication skills with clientele — both virtually and in person. She said she believes the student ambassadors program is a great way to network with the real world.

“I think it’s a really good step towards being interconnected with people in your community,” Peterkin said.

Seeno said Peterkin has learned a lot from the agents at Exit Realty. Peterkin is learning market analysis, taking messages, sending out mailings and going door to door handing out postcards.

“She’s doing very well, she’s very cooperative, she’s on time, she’s pleasant,” Seeno said.

The interns and the business owners said they find the program to be positive and rewarding.

“Giving students the opportunity to learn about the outside world is really beneficial,” Peterkin said.