City, Cumberland County Schools program help students land hard-to-get paid internships

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The competition for internships is heating up across the country, with students facing tougher odds than ever before. A recent report from the career network Handshake found that each internship posting in 2025 received an average of 109 applications, almost double the previous year's number.

In Fayetteville, city and county leaders are working to bridge that gap. This summer, 95 local students are participating in the ICON Summer program (Innovative Career Opportunities Now), with 14 interns working across the city and two serving in the fire department, one more than last year.

For 15-year-old Jeremiah Foster, the opportunity is more than just a summer job. "Kids don't really get this opportunity. So I'm glad I'm getting this opportunity. I'm going to take advantage of it," Foster said.

Foster's first internship has him digitizing photos and archiving history for the Fayetteville Fire Department. "It's been cool because there are a lot of things that I didn't know that are teaching me now," he added.

The six-week paid program is a joint initiative between the city and Cumberland County Schools, designed to boost job prospects after graduation.

Todd Donovan, the fire department's accreditation manager, says internships like these help bridge the recruitment gap with younger generations. "We really get to make a difference in some young person's life," Donovan said.

Recent Cape Fear High School graduate Jerry Cunningham is also interning with the department, working on the marketing team. He says the experience is already helping him grow. "If you do sign up for this, you're definitely going meet a lot of people. You're definitely gonna get out of your comfort zone and you're definitely going to build some type of either a leadership skills, communication skills and work ethic," Cunningham said.

Just three days into the internship, Cunningham says he already feels like part of the team. "It almost feels like I'm an actual employee, I'm on the website. I have an email and all that other stuff. They give me a badge that I get to use, open doors and stuff like that for the fire department, which is pretty cool."

Cunningham is hopeful the experience will open doors for a future career. "It gets my foot in the door from the fire service and stuff like that. Being able to go see new things, meet new people and just kind of keep going forward with this as a career," he said.

Both Cunningham and Foster are part of a small but growing group of interns gaining real-world skills. And in a job market where internships are harder to land than ever, they say these opportunities are making a difference.

Beyond job skills, the program also offers lessons on financial responsibility. "They had us go through like this kind of like financial thing that we were going over the difference between debit and credit cards and how to spend your money needs and wants and things like that, which is pretty helpful," Cunningham said.

Donovan says the program benefits both students and the department itself. "I'm in my fifties. I don't know how the 18-year-olds think these days, so why don't we take someone who is of that age and help us develop a marketing plan to develop a pipeline to the fire department," he said.

Now, both Cunningham and Foster hope to work in the fire department in some capacity. They say these skills are preparing them for their careers.

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