Internships & Work Experience

High school students that apply and are trained to become peer educators and wellness ambassadors for their school. Many schools have 4-10 interns, and we have over 130 interns across the high schools. Interns work with an adult youth outreach coordinator to develop their own school wide health events and health related classroom presentations, addressing issues that students face today such as healthy relationships, stress reduction, and negative impacts of substance abuse.

It has been proven that students tend to listen to their peers better than the adults. The interns play a vital role in empowering and educating their peers to make healthy choices, reaching thousands of students annually. Interns can also get paid for representing wellness in various spaces such as school clubs, School Site Council (SSC), English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC), and district teams such as the School Health Advisory Board (SHAB) and Queer Trans Advisory Council (QTAC).  

Hiring at the beginning of every school year

"Foodwise Teens is a paid job training program where teens build skills to sustain healthy lives and a healthy planet. Students learn about food justice, develop job skills, and get hands-on experience in the garden, in the kitchen, and at the farmers market, while getting paid for their work. Learn more about how our Foodwise Teens program has been adapted during the pandemic.

Foodwise Teens is for high school students. Our current partner schools in San Francisco are The Academy - San Francisco @ McAteer, John O’Connell High School, and Mission High School."

Students can earn up to $250, plus receive 2 boxes of fresh produce and cooking supplies sent to their homes & other wellness supplies. Engage with new ideas about food, food preparation, and food justice!

Hiring at the beginning of every school year

MNHC’s youth program Adelante! Youth Leaders Advancing Health Equity (YLAHE) is a peer-based program for youth of high school age, from 13 to 17. The focus of this youth development program is to inspire youth and teach them the skills they need to be positive leaders among their peers and within their community.

Youth participants learn about important health educations topics, including alcohol awareness, HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention and family planning. Peer educators and staff are available to hold workshops on various sexual health topics for youth programs and classroom presentations within San Francisco.

Find out if your school has an SFUSD Wellness Center!

The San Francisco Wellness Initiative is a groundbreaking program dedicated to improving the health, well-being and academic success of the city’s 16,000 public high school students at 19 campuses. In safe, confidential settings, experts in adolescent health at onsite Wellness Centers help teens gain the skills they need to cope with complex issues such as stress, trauma, suicide, bullying, depression, self-esteem, drug and alcohol use, sexual health and relationships. Students learn positive, lifelong habits that contribute to their well-being and success, and ultimately, to the health of the communities in which they live.

The Wellness Initiative is the only school-based program for adolescent health and wellness of its kind. The Initiative is made possible through a unique partnership between the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF), the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). By leveraging the resources of each agency, student health is addressed from a citywide perspective.