Interns help Springfield, learn about community

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer 7:00 PM Friday, July 17, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — The work Brittany Cravens and Maranda Moore did as part of their summer internship at WorkPlus led to five people finding jobs.

They worked on some of the agency’s goals, such as surveying employers, which created contacts that helped three people find health care and two customer service jobs, said Lehan Peters, deputy director of the Workforce Development Division of Clark County Jobs and Family Services.

“We’ve made great strides to try to reduce unemployment,” she said. “But there’s a lot of work and not a lot of staff available to do the projects we know we need to do.”

Cravens and Moore are Wittenberg University students who participated in the school’s Center for Civic and Urban Engagement community internship program this summer.

The 13 interns worked with a variety of community groups including WorkPlus, the city and GEAR UP. The students presented their final reports on Friday, July 17.

Intern Leslie Chasteen was tasked with organizing Passport to Springfield, an event on campus to expose new freshman to businesses and organizations in Springfield.

“What we are trying to do is show Wittenberg students that instead of going to Dayton, Cincinnati or Beavercreek for your entertainment, you can go right here in Springfield,” she said.

That gets at the center’s goals, said Warren Copeland, who is Springfield mayor and the center’s faculty director.

The center wants to make Wittenberg more helpful in the community, he said, and students more aware citizens.

“One of the goals of the center is for the location in Springfield to become a plus for Wittenberg rather than people seeing it as a detriment,” Copeland said.

Intern Maggie Muir agreed, saying she never thought about living in Springfield after graduation before her internship working with Project Jericho.

“This internship opened my eyes ... I’ve gone from renting a room at Wittenberg to being a part of Springfield,” she said.

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