Blog: City Blog

Checking in with Summer in the City interns

The 2024 Summer in the City interns are officially halfway through their time with the City of Knoxville and are eager to share more about their experience so far and what is still to come.

Interns have fully settled into each of their departments and are becoming fully able to help with day-to-day office life. They have also been plenty busy with travels, attending City Council meetings, filming for the Tennessee Baseball championship parade (below), and volunteering at Kid A'Riffic Fun in the Park.

Youth Engagement Coordinator Emily Norris with Summer in the City interns

Youth Engagement Coordinator Emily Norris with Summer in the City interns

The interns meet in groups every Friday for a few hours to work on their capstone projects which they will present to Mayor Kincannon on the final day of their internship, which is a huge honor for the interns.

Summer interns at work

These projects focus on the five priorities outlined City of Knoxville’s vision statement: Public Safety, Healthy and Connected Neighborhoods, a Clean and Resilient Future, Thriving Businesses and Good Jobs, and Good Governance.

The Public Safety group is creating videos for the My Voice Our Community outreach program against youth violence in Knoxville. These videos help spread awareness through experiences that have happened to community members.

The group in Thriving Businesses and Good Jobs is giving a presentation on Social Emotional Learning, and the ways that can impact your future career. They hope to help people incorporate emotions and feelings better in the workplace.

The Good Governance group is working on a proposal for a Youth and Government-participatory program for youth in Knoxville. This program would help educate the Knoxville youth on the practices of Good Governance and City Government.

The group focused on Healthy and Connected Neighborhoods is distributing a survey about young pedestrian safety along Knoxville’s streets and how it is affecting the youth. Those results will help point to ways to help make our local roadways safer in the future.

Lastly, the group involved in Creating a Clean and Resilient Future has been tasked with mapping out and designing a location for a Resilience Hub. The group hopes to develop plans for a hub that offers day-to-day services that support residents before, during, and after a disaster.

Summer interns at work

These capstone project presentations will encapsulate everything interns have been able to learn so far and show their growth over the summer. We are so excited to see the ways these interns will continue to grow over their final month with the City of Knoxville.

-- contributed by Communications intern Will Ohlig

Posted by ptravis On 02 July, 2024 at 1:40 PM