By Lester Booker Jr.
In its sixth year, General Motors Student Corps matched teams of 10 high school interns with retired GM executives and college interns for life skills development and career preparation. As part of their 10-week journey, students learned the value of teamwork, leadership, goal-setting and community service.
The Student Corps, an extension of GM’s commitment to education, hired 150 students from the following 15 high schools:
- Cody Campus.
- Detroit Central High School.
- DCP at Northwestern.
- Eastpointe High School.
- Flint Southwestern Classical Academy.
- Hamtramck High School.
- Harper Woods High School.
- Henry Ford High School.
- Lincoln High School.
- Madison High School.
- Melvindale High School.
- Osborn Campus.
- Pershing High School.
- Pontiac High School.
- River Rouge High School.
Throughout the summer, students also managed all aspects of their community service projects with a common goal of improving underserved and deeply distressed communities.
“The GM Student Corps helps create safer, more sustainable communities, but just as importantly, it changes lives,” said Matt Ybarra, program coordinator, GM Student Corps. “It is so much more than just a 10-week program, and it is truly special to see the ongoing mentoring relationships between the GM retirees, college interns and high school students. As someone who has developed greatly as a person and leader in my time with the GM Student Corps, I am very happy to be in a position where I can give back by providing a valuable growth opportunity for students in metro Detroit, Flint and Pontiac.”
This year’s program concluded with a special closing event to showcase the teams hard work with Global Product Group (GPG) leadership.
Since the program’s inception in 2013, GM Student Corps has provided more than 800 summer internships, 72 school improvement projects and more than 68 park renovations. Some of the community projects included:
- Building 61 bikes for donation to children in need.
- Assembling 115 picnic tables, chairs and benches.
- Spreading 635 yards of mulch, enough to fill more than 50 large dump trucks.
- Applying nearly 238 gallons of paint.
- Planting 112 flowers and shrubs.
- Facilitating reading program for children in local neighborhoods.
