"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience.”  -John Dewey

EQA runs an innovative Internship Program which enables high school students to gain important professional experience while interning in businesses and organizations throughout the greater New Orleans area.  Students are given the opportunity to apply their skills and assets while providing meaningful support to their internship placement. These formative experiences challenge students to reflect on post-secondary opportunities and identify pathways to achieve their professional and civic goals.

Each high school's Real World Learning Coordinator works closely with each student and each professional mentor to insure that both have a high quality and transformative experience.  

This program relies on community members to volunteer at Internship Mentors.

• Does your organization need an extra set of hands?  
• Looking for a way to take that pet project off the backburner and make it a reality?  
• Interested in giving back to your community by mentoring a young person?  

EQA seeks professionals interested in serving their community sharing their profession with a young person.  Click here to sign up for more information about how to get involved!

Semester Internships

The Real World Learning Coordinator works one-on-one with student to identify their interests, skills, and goals and to match them with professional mentors.  Students typically work at their internship site twice a week for 2-5 hours per time and internships typically span one academic semester.  However, a multitude of internship lengths and configurations are possible depending upon the place of business or organization's needs.  Professional mentors will have opportunities to reflect directly with their interns and the Coordinator on how to continuously improve the experience to best meet the agreed upon outcomes for the internship.

Intensive Summer Internships

During the Summer Semester, students may elect to earn academic credit through an intensive internship project rather than a conventional course. Students work daily at a variety of businesses and programs and meet twice weekly to develop a project to support their internship placement.