LMC's Right Track Intern Takes a Positively Presidential Field Trip

City of St. Paul's Right Track interns show their tickets to the
June 26 presidential Town Hall in Mpls.

Your typical summer job may bring to mind hot days mowing lawns, the aroma of French fries at the local drive-up window, or perhaps the unceasing pleasantries of a cash register.

For the League’s Right Track summer intern, Samantha (Sammie) Theng, the first week of her summer job included a trip to a Town Hall meeting with President Barack Obama in Minneapolis. That beats a checkout lane any day.

The City of St. Paul’s Right Track program pairs St. Paul high school students with summer jobs that will build professional skills and help them navigate the workforce. Other employers involved include Ecolab, the Science Museum, local nonprofits, and government offices. About 100 interns are a part of the program this year.

When the St. Paul Mayor’s Office received 10 extra tickets to attend the Town Hall on June 26, Mayor Chris Coleman handed them off to the Right Track program.

Sammie, who is 17, didn’t believe it at first when her supervisor told she was invited. Sammie said her next question was whether it would actually be OK for her to skip work that day.

LMC's Right Track intern Samantha
Theng (right) poses with St. Paul
Mayor Chris Coleman (left).

Reassured, Sammie joined the other Right Track interns and Catherine Pinkert, the manager of the Right Track program, for the field trip to Minnehaha Park.

The speeches didn’t catch the teenager’s attention—“I think all speeches are boring,” she confided—but she said she was interested in the following Q&A, particularly a question about the gender wage gap.

Mayor Coleman took some time to visit with the interns, giving them boxes of M&Ms he claimed he stole from Air Force One. “He’s funny,” said Sammie.

Now in the groove of her regular duties at the League, Sammie is working on a variety of projects. One includes using Excel to document whether cities follow through with loss control safety recommendations. Her work station is located next to Public Safety Coordinator Rob Boe’s desk, another reason to be jealous of her time here at the League.


More info about Right Track:
City of St. Paul's Right Track program web page
Right Track on Facebook
Read about another Right Track intern's experience in the Star Tribune