Schools

Summit Teen Spends Spring Break at Novartis Corporate Mentoring Program

Aldana Munoz was one of several local middle and high school students who attended the 2013 Multicultural Teen Corporate Mentoring Program.

A culturally diverse group of middle school and high school students, some from Summit High School, spent their spring break participating in job shadowing, a State of the Union challenge, a career and college fair, panel discussions with senior company leaders, a mock marketing challenge and a community service project as part of the 2013 Multicultural Teen Corporate Mentoring Program hosted by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC) in East Hanover.

The weeklong event in April brought 200 students from more than 25 schools together with Novartis employees for activities designed to help the students set higher personal, academic and career goals by bringing them face to face with successful multicultural role models in a corporate environment and exposing them to diverse career options.

One of NPC’s many philanthropic efforts, the program has mentored more than 800 students, several of whom returned as interns during their college years.

Steve Pemberton, chief diversity officer at Walgreen’s, and best-selling author of "A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home," who served as the program’s keynote speaker.

“Steve Pemberton was a great role model,” said Aldana Munoz, a junior at Summit High School, who participated through the involvement of the Summit Area YMCA’s Black and Latino Achievers program. “He told us that we should follow our dream and everything is possible when you try.”


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