IISTL Teen Summer Learning Program

By Marisa Tesoro

This summer, 47 teens participated in the Teen Summer Learning Program at the International Institute.

The group—up from 27 participants in 2022—gathered daily for three weeks to learn about different careers and job skills. There are no immigration-status requirements for participating in the program, and participants do not need to be ORR-eligible.

With the help of staff and volunteers, the group of teens visited LUZCO Technologies, STLCC-Forest Park, Sheesh, and Tower Grove Park to learn about engineering, restaurants/small businesses, and conservation. Guest speakers from different departments within the Institute as well as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra gave presentations, and the group also had the opportunity to go a St. Louis Cardinals Game and the Science Center Planetarium.

When they weren’t out exploring the city, they were playing games and participating in other activities in the Institute’s cafeteria.

While the teens undoubtedly walked away with new ideas about their potential career paths, it was the little things that just stem from participating in the program that can also make all the difference.

Participants who initially showed up wary and unsure about taking public transportation quickly grew comfortable with the Metrolink and Metrobus after taking it as a group. Some even asked for extra bus tickets to use outside of the program.

Using those skills and taking the bus had even allowed participants who had moved out to St. Louis County to participate in the program. Katherine Schoeberle, Teen Program Coordinator said:

I figured out there was a bus that takes them just across the county line into the city. Then they have to wait at this transit center, and then they take another bus to the Institute. And it only runs every hour. And they did it! There was only one day, the first day, where they ended up at a weird bus stop and they didn't know how to get here. And someone had to go pick them up, but they did it. I was so proud of them!

It was hard to ignore the power of public transit. Once that element was mastered, the city was theirs. Schoeberle described a 17-year-old Afghan girl’s experience with the bus:

She's like, ‘I love the bus. I get out of my house, I feel independent.’ She just said, ‘I put my headphones in, and I ride the bus, and I can go anywhere I want.’

There’s so much more to the program than its stated purpose. The confidence gained, the sense of value and self-worth acquired are invaluable.

And then there were the friendships. Seemingly unlikely pairs, united by a common language or proximity also found each other through this program.

Because the participants met every day, it even allowed staff to identify potential high-risk situations among participants and refer them to the Social Work department for further support and resources.

If you were ever in doubt that three weeks can change a life, just look at the Institute’s Teen Summer Learning Program.