One of the ways Highstreet accomplishes the goal of giving back to our community is by partnering with KIP DC: College Preparatory, a title I school in Washington D.C., to provide a high school internship program. Each summer Highstreet offers internships to two high school students and brings them into our company to be mentored, learn real skills applicable to their area of interest, and give them experience in a corporate environment. It is a pleasure to work with these students, to pour into them, and to hear their fresh ideas and perspectives. This year we had the pleasure of working with Naima Smith and Olivia Christy. You can read more about Highstreetโs partnership with KIPP DC and 2020โs high school interns here.
KIPP DC: College Preparatory
Naima Smith
A recent graduate of KIPP DC, Naima spent her summer under the mentorship of Chris Cox, Highstreetโs Lead System Analyst. This summer Naima wanted to broaden her understanding of computers, and as such focused heavily on learning Python, a coding language. When working on Python Scripting she covered areas such as understanding pseudocode, practice & testing, editing & review, all to get her final product. She also learned Excel API by leveraging goSkills. Up until her graduation this past spring, Naima was a member of her schoolโs K-Pop Music Club and the Robotics Club.
Naima has earned a scholarship to attend Pomona College in Claremont, California and will start her first semester as a Computer Science major this fall.
When asked how we should push improvements in our internship program, Naima said, โKeep the internship the same!โ Thank you, Naima, for joining the Highstreet team this summer we all wish you the best at Pomona College!
Her suggestions to future interns: โAsk questions, take things step by step, and be patient!โ
Olivia Christy
Olivia Christy is also a recent graduate of KIPP DC and will be attending Pomona College on scholarship this fall. This summer Olivia was under the mentorship of Kim Lee, Highstreetโs Director of HR. She focused on completing Microsoft office, cyber security, and anti-harassment & anti-discrimination training. One of her projects this summer was to assist HR with new employee benefits which exposed her to benefits a typical employee receives and helped her to develop a greater understanding of those policies. In addition to employee benefits Olivia audited OPN active account users, Unanet employee skill set-up, employee certifications, etc.
She worked extensively with various HR software Highstreet uses including OpenAir, Paylocity, and Unanet. Not only did Olivia work on HR tasks, but she assisted Marketing with the rebranding effort.
Her suggestions to future interns: โAsking questions will make your life so much easier! Everyone here is happy that you are on board and will do everything they can to get you comfortable and to help you do your job well and have confidence. And be sure to save your work! Anytime I had an issue, everyone was super nice and understanding even though Iโm not the best when it comes to technology.โ
In Closing
Each of our interns completed their internship by leading a presentation for the HR team and Highstreetโs CEO, Nick Magliato. Highstreet values its interns and looks forward to continuing to partner with KIPP DC to create a program that invests in the future of our students. Highstreet also sponsors a college Internship Program– you can read about this year’s college interns here.