Last year’s PLANET Student Career Days (SCD) host school, the University of Maryland (UMD), headed west for the 30th annual event and participated in a number of events with great enthusiasm. But beyond classroom and work training the students had in preparation for the event, UMD program coordinator Steve Cohan says this year’s SCD team had an additional stint of hard work over spring break to help offset the cost of the cross-country trip.
“A lot of schools held fundraisers for their teams in preparation for Student Career Days, but because the University of Maryland is such a commuter campus, that’s a little more difficult for us,” Cohan tells Lawn & Landscape. “Instead, we take steps to match up our competing students for mini-internships with local landscape companies to raise money for the trip.”
Cohan says students must complete 60 hours of work with a sponsoring company during UMD’s spring break. The students’ earnings go into a gift fund to cover the costs of airfare and accommodations.
“This is more than just a way for the kids to raise money,” Cohan says. “It’s an opportunity for the industry to interface with the students and start relationships. Many sponsoring companies assign mentors that our students can learn from throughout their careers.”
This year, Cohan says only 10 UMD students attended SCD, though 14 were expected. As a result, the team ended up with more sponsors than students, showing the high interest the Maryland green industry community has in its upcoming leaders. Many sponsoring companies, including Chapel Valley Landscape Co., RAR, Brickman, Outside Unlimited, Bozzuto, and McHale Landscape Design also took part in the SCD career fair this year or in years past.
“The industry involvement in SCD is beyond anything I’ve ever seen academically,” Cohan says. “We’re so happy to be a part of it and thankful of the support that all our sponsoring companies give us.”
