Student employees in the summer job program will work eight hours a day Monday through Thursday, but on Fridays they will attend unpaid workshops, as seen in this photo.

For many teens summer is the time of year to hang with friends and catch up on some beauty sleep, but for 100 carefully chosen students, summer will bring the chance to work with professionals in a field of their choosing earning $8 an hour and valuable job experience.

The Clark County Summer Business Institute is offering jobs in an eight-week program for the students who will be high school juniors, seniors or college freshmen by the fall of 2007. Past students of the program such as Ganeisha Hamilton have experienced success in life after attending the program.

"She was a student years ago who was living in MASH Village which is a homeless shelter," says Debbie Conway, Clark County recorder and former business development manager for the county.

Conway says Hamilton, who attended Las Vegas Academy, had a 4.0 grade-point average when she was in the program. Her internship was at Bank West of Nevada and, according to Conway, she currently is getting ready to graduate from a college in Connecticut.

In its 12th year, the program is teaming up with more than 80 area businesses to employ students in fields such as accounting, business management, culinary, construction, hotel management, medicine and law among others. Students will work eight hours a day Monday through Thursday.

On Fridays students will attend unpaid workshops. Last summer's workshops were held at the Community College of Southern Nevada. At these workshops students where taught financial planning and life skills by professionals in various fields. Through the program students are taught how to prepare for college and participate in a mandatory community service project.

"The program was life changing," says Natasha Dua, a Green Valley High School junior who attended the program last summer. Dua, who aspires to become a lawyer, gained experience in civil and criminal justice when she worked for the Henderson city attorney's office.

Through the program Dua was able to interview attorneys about what it takes to become a lawyer and how she can start preparing as a student. Prior to this program Dua considered her career choice to be like "Law & Order," but after working with actual attorneys her perspective changed. At the end of the program scholarships were awarded and Dua won an outstanding scholar award of $250 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"It is also very competitive," Dua says, remembering being interviewed in a group of five or so students before being admitted into the program. Dua says she is "definitely going to be applying" to participate in the program again.

Dua is just one of the many success stories from the program.

Other students Conway remembers from years past are Cecilia James, Jacob Simmons and Mariana Kihuen -- all of whom are now attending college.

Cecilia James, a former Rancho High School student, worked for the Kellogg-Cutler Insurance Co. and had a grade-point average well above 4.0, Conway says.

Those at Kellogg-Cutler Insurance Co. were pleased with her work. She has since gone on to UNLV where she is studying to become a pediatrician.

Jacob Simmons, a former Cimarron-Memorial High School student, wanted to major in transportation. The program set Simmons up to work for the Regional Transportation Commission.

After the program ended, Simmons was hired by the commission, where he is working full time. He also is attending UNLV.

Former Rancho High School student Mariana Kihuen, a high achiever according to Conway, also excelled in the internship program.

"She is currently enrolled in law school," Conway said.

Kihuen worked for the law firm of Jones Vargas, and the program helped her get a full scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

The eight-week internship program will start in the middle of June and end in the middle of August. Applications are due March 2. To qualify for the program, students must have a 2.0 grade-point average or better.

Requirements of the application include a recent copy of transcripts along with an essay that asks applicants to explain in 250 words or less why they want to be considered for the Summer Business Institute Program. The application also asks that a high school official, either the principal, a counselor or dean, sign the application certifying that the student is in good standing and is recommended for the program.

Applications can be picked up and must be returned to the Clark County Government Center Finance Department, 5th Floor, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway. You can also pick up an applications at the KCEP radio station, 330 W. Washington Ave.

Or applicants can download an application from the Clark County Web site, www.accessclarkcounty.com, after clicking on the "Summer Teen Jobs" link.