The Lighthouse said farewell to the 2010 Summer Lighthouse Internship Program (SLIP) participants who finished their six week stay on Friday, August 6th.  This year 13 high school and college students gained valuable hands-on experience in a wide array of programs.  The majority of the interns were paid through sponsorship from Chicago's After School Matters Program.

Departments which employed summer interns included the Children’s Development Center, Low Vision Clinic, Illinois Instructional Material Center, Call Center, IT Department, Financial Development, Accounting, Print Room, Cafeteria, Adaptive Technology Center and Public Relations.

"We are all going to miss the positive and helpful attitudes of our SLIP interns," said Dr. Janet Szlyk, Lighthouse president/executive director.  "We appreciate their hard work and enjoyed having them as part of our Lighthouse family this summer."

"I had a lot of fun!" said Marcus Johnson who interned in the cafeteria.  "I met new people, got to learn about new food and learned how to cook different things."

SLIP students were able to partake in a lot of the excitement happening around the Lighthouse, including the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) panel discussion with Senator Dick Durbin, the ADA anniversary celebration at the Thompson Center, Chicago Lighthouse agency tours and Children’s Center field trips.

"I learned a lot of about the ADA this summer," said intern Lilian Xie.  "Especially the ways it has helped people and the ways it can be improved."

The interns utilized their creative and teamwork skills to create "Light Beyond Darkness," a creative media magazine featuring artwork, prose, poetry and photography from individuals with visual impairments.  The interns hope to make magazine available for purchase later this year as a fundraiser for the Lighthouse’s ever-expanding youth programs.

Several interns also offered their fresh perspective to the local network of Lions Clubs in developing effective social media techniques, managing databases, creating promotional brochures and developing a press release.  On the interns’ final day, members of the Lions Club came to the Lighthouse to salute the students’ hard work and offer words of encouragement.