Asheville Reporter

 City of Asheville issued the following announcement on Feb. 13.

The City of Asheville Youth Leadership Academy (CAYLA) recruits, trains, and places eligible high school sophomores and juniors in paid summer internships that provide exposure to 21st century job skills. Applications for the 2023 summer cohort are now available. The deadline to apply is at 5 p.m. on March 14.

Since 2007, teens from across the City and County are selected each summer to learn and earn valuable job experience through the program. CAYLA students are matched with City and County departments, local businesses, and nonprofits. These internships are specifically created to directly correlate with each students’ career aspirations and interests. Each Friday learning workshops on leadership development, team-building, financial literacy, college prep, and career exploration will take place. The program is a partnership with the Asheville City Schools Foundation and is supported in part by Buncombe County.

Grow with the Flow this Summer

“This summer our theme is “Grow with the Flow “, said Alex Mitchiner, Workforce Development Programs Coordinator for the City. “We’ll be focusing on strategies and ways the students can create innovation and growth in their own communities, in addition to challenging the students to grow personally”. This goes along with Council’s “Grow Your Own” initiative that launched the program in 2007.

CAYLA students work 20 hours per week and earn $15.00 an hour. Each student will work a total of 16 hours a week Monday-Thursday. Students are paid an additional four hours for attending the Friday learning workshops. 

Applicants must be current sophomores OR juniors enrolled at Asheville High/SILSA or one of the Buncombe County public high schools. 

Since its inception in 2007, CAYLA has been nationally-recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In 2011, CAYLA was honored with the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service. 

Where to APPLY

Interested students may apply by visiting the following link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/ashevillenc/jobs/3918487/cayla-intern?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

For more information on the CAYLA program, please visit the program website, https://www.ashevillenc.gov/department/community-economic-development/economic-development/cayla/. 

For more information on how to apply, contact Workforce Development Programs Coordinator, Alex Mitchiner at amitchiner@ashevillenc.gov or 828-337-7569.

Original source can be found here.