As you may have seen in the first segment of Bronx Beat with YES Network this season, the Bronx Economic Development Corporation has forged a partnership with Renaissance Youth Center.
This partnership stems in part from a conversation BXEDC President Rob Walsh had with Renaissance Youth Center President/CEO Bervin Harris this past spring about funding an internship at the youth center for local college students. Theodore Lodge, a rising sophomore at Manhattan University, and Nardelle Thelus, a rising senior at Fordham University, were selected to fill these intern roles. Rob and I met with them this week to learn about how they will be contributing to the Center’s summer STEM program.
Lodge, who is studying electrical engineering, demonstrated some of the miniature cars he has built during his free time. During his internship, he’s excited to teach the kids in the program how to build their own cars and engage directly with mini machinery. The programs at Renaissance Youth Center, which take place during the summer and after school, offer kids an opportunity to not only learn about things like building cars, but also learn how to do it themselves.
Thelus explained that she was intrigued by this internship because it allows her to pass on her own skills to Bronx youth in a pressure-free environment. She explained how these kids will be a few steps ahead because they learned real-world skills before they had the pressure of exams, grades and responsibility. They’ll feel like they’re just having fun – but they are shaping their futures as well.
The BXEDC focuses on building opportunities in the borough – mostly through loan distribution, but also through grants and marketing initiatives. This internship is funded by a grant from the New York Power Authority, and we see it as an opportunity for many people: the young kids who participate in the program, the college students who are contributing to their “college town” and even the universities, as they could form a closer relationship with Renaissance Youth Center.
As emphasized by Thelus during our conversation, it’s “access and exposure” that come from these programs. The kids get access to learn about STEM, and exposure to a world in which they can be engineers, technologists, scientists and more. The BXEDC is proud to support such a beneficial initiative.
Follow the BXEDC on Instagram at @bx_edc and the Renaissance Youth Center @renaissanceyouthcenter.
