Over the past seven years, University City District has helped high school students in West Philadelphia gain real-life work experience over the summer in the form of internships with local businesses.

This year, UCD’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative Summer Jobs Program will focus on high school students graduating in 2014 in order to support students in the first phase of their career path. UCD will work with local employers to create summer internships for 25 graduating seniors. 100 percent of intern wages will be paid through grant funds raised by UCD.

Past internship partners include the Law School at the University of Pennsylvania, CHOP, Drexel University, the International House of Philadelphia, ULAR, Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia, and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

The deadline for students to apply is March 28, 2014 and the program will begin on Tuesday, July 1. Students accepted into the program will work 20 hours per week for $7.25 an hour. The online applications can be found here.

Watch the video below for more information about the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative:

(Image via UCD.)