This guest blog was written by John Harris, a rising Junior at Temple University studying to receive a B.A in Philosophy and Political science. John is also working on his M.Ed in Secondary Education Social Studies through Temple’s 4+1 program. His interests are in aesthetics and, well, education!
My first introduction to the Mayor’s Office of Education (MOE) was in my freshman year at Temple when Otis Hackney, the Chief Education Officer at MOE visited the GEAR UP program I was in. After he finished his compelling speech about the journey he’s taken to get to where he is today, he mentioned internship opportunities. I then knew that I needed to find a way to work with him on the City’s education efforts.
Unfortunately, to be eligible to participate in the city’s internship program I first needed to complete my sophomore year. For two years I looked forward to the internship, and I sent in my application as soon as I could. The selection process for the Mayor’s Internship Program is based on where city departments expect they will need help. Within MOE that help was projected in communications so I was brought in as a communications intern.
Going into this role I had little training in communications and really didn’t know what to expect. Now, looking back on the experience I feel much more comfortable with what a communications role entails and I understand how vital a role it is. I can see how much work there actually is to do; especially with the many amazing projects and changes in public education happening now such as PHLpreK, Community Schools, and the new Board of Education!
Future communications interns, here’s all that you can expect in a Mayor’s Office of Education internship. Over the course of the summer I’ve worked on many daily and weekly projects such as gathering and sharing press clippings, social media drafting, social media scheduling, and press clip tracking. I’ve also had the opportunity to work on some long-term/larger projects such as blog post creation, social media toolkit creation, and extensive work with the Philly Reading Coaches initiative. Along with these larger projects I also had the opportunity to work on talking points for Otis Hackney to use at public events and a press release.
One of the projects I’m most proud of is my work on a blog post documenting Community School students and the incredible internships they completed this summer. The programs these students participated in included working with Penn Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania’s architecture department, and interning full-time with the Philadelphia Streets Department.
In order to write the blog, I visited with the students to talk about their internships. The enthusiasm I encountered in each student made me incredibly proud to be working with such an amazing City department.
Seeing your work’s impact up close is very rewarding. Working with the Mayor’s Office of Education has been an experience I wouldn’t trade for any other. To be a part of an organization which is working to make significant change in the world of education and in people’s lives generally has been extraordinary.
Being a part of such an amazing administration is an experience like no other. For anyone looking to get involved with the Mayor’s Internship Program or the Office of Education themselves, I recommend building as many relationships as possible and to involve yourself within your community.
