INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
We launched our internship program in 2022 consisting of two interns from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today, we’ve had ten interns work with us to better research and development and marketing efforts. Not only is our passion to help build Sing and Speak 4 Kids, but to also build up future leaders of our industry. Our hopes are to help our interns grow in their field of study from UNC but also, attract more university students from various universities to be part of our team.
Intern Responsibilities:
- Support marketing campaigns planning and execution
- Write copy for social media posts, promotional emails, website, and other marketing projects
- Participate in marketing brainstorming sessions
- Focus Groups
- Research
Work Hours and Benefits:
- Weekly hours are dependent on internship requirements
- Class credit (if available by your institution)
- Lots of opportunity to learn and gain experience
Qualifications and Skills:
- Creative problem-solving skills
- Self-starter with ability to work independently and remotely
- Comfortable with multitasking in a deadline-driven environment
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Basic photography, image and video editing, and graphic design skills a plus but not required
Education and Experience Requirements:
- Currently working towards a college degree
- Proficient with the use of Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Spaces)
Intern Goals include:
- Analyzing Sing and Speak for Kid’s compatibility with nonverbal children
- Investigating gameplay in a group setting
- Ordering and scoring the difficulty of target words in our current songs with semantics and articulation levels
- Game play analysis
- Implementing SS4Kids into the Chapel Hill community
- Educating professionals and paraprofessionals how to utilize SS4Kids
- Creating marketing materials
- Preforming research
- Holding focus groups
- Writing resources for our website
- and more!
Interested in being an intern?
If you are interested in being part of our intern team, please fill out our internship interest form.
History
March 2022. In our first focus group, we investigated the current and optimal use of our online music-based program, Sing and Speak 4 Kids (SS4Kids). Parents and caregivers had the opportunity to use SS4Kids with their child, and provide feedback and suggestions on the parent training materials, program operation, parent-child interaction, support system provided by SS4Kids, and other relevant commentary. Professionals provided feedback on helping both the children and their parents, using SS4Kids as a supplemental training program. View Report
In our second focus group, February 2023, we held a paraprofessional focus group. The paraprofessional focus group was designed to investigate current and optimal customer journey (engagement, implementation and maintenance) of the online music-based program Sing and Speak 4 Kids from a paraprofessional perspective. We outlined what they enjoyed about the program in an online format, as well as express any challenges or barriers with utilizing the game in different settings and scenarios. View Report
Our 2024 focus group targets professionals that are using SS4Kids in a group setting. In these focus groups, professionals will have the opportunity to provide feedback on their overall experience with SS4Kids, as well as provide suggestions on the support systems and program operations provided here at SS4Kids. Professionals will provide feedback on helping both children and their parents using the SS4Kids as a supplemental training program.
Meet Our Interns
Esil Empig
Intern Coordinator
Esil just graduated UNC Chapel Hill with a double major in Music and Linguistics with a speech and hearing sciences minor. She will attend Northwestern’s Speech, Language, and Learning Master’s program in the fall. Esil loves working with children and hopes her passion for music and language will help her as an Intern for Sing and Speak 4 Kids. Esil has been with Sing and Speak 4 Kids since 2022 and has learned so much in leading professional and paraprofessional focus groups, research, and connecting with other professionals in the field of music and speech.
Andrea Chavez
Intern
Andrea is an Honors Carolina student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in Linguistics and minoring in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She is also an undergraduate research assistant at the UNC Language Development Lab. Andrea enjoys working with children and finds joy in contributing to the progression of Sing and Speak 4 Kids, whether it be through research, creating social media posts, strengthening the relationship between SS4Kids and the Spanish speaking community through translating, and more!
Lydia Runyambo
Intern
Lydia is a student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She works as a DSP at a group home for intellectual and developmental disabilities. Lydia is involved with SS4Kids because it perfectly aligns with her passion for making a difference in the lives of children. As an aspiring speech pathologist, Lydia believes in the power of innovative tools like SS4Kids. She’s been fortunate to find a program like SS4Kids that harnesses the drive to spark change through the universal language of music!
Olivia Haines
Intern
Olivia is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a major in Linguistics, with minors in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Spanish Language. She is also a volunteer at UNC’s Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders, where she assists individuals with speaking impairments. Olivia is passionate about helping children develop and improve their language capabilities through innovative programs, and increasing access to speech tools and therapies for underserved communities.
Anna Wohlberg
Intern
Anna is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a major in Psychology, and a minor in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She volunteers with Gigi’s Playhouse, is a nanny, and cares for a girl with Down Syndrome. Anna loves working with kids and hopes to become an SLP in order to help kids with developmental disabilities improve their communication skills. She is excited to be working with SS4Kids and learning about the impact music can have on speech and language development!
Abbey Shanahan
Intern
Abbey is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Speech and Hearing Sciences. She volunteers for the National Association of Young People Who Stutter, is a group leader for StrongHER TogetHER, and is a nanny. Abbey is aiming to become a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) with a focus on helping individuals who stutter. Abbey is passionate about music and helping children improve their communication skills, making SS4K a perfect opportunity to combine both interests.
Julianna Winfree
Intern
Julianna is an undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill double majoring in Linguistics and Human Development with a minor in Speech and Hearing Sciences. After graduation, she plans to pursue a degree in clinical audiology with a focus on pediatrics. Outside of school, Julianna is a research assistant in the ALLears lab in the UNC School of Medicine, Co-President of the UNC American Sign Language Club, and work part-time at a preschool. The reason she joined SS4Kids is because it combines her interests of working with kids, assistive technology, and speech and hearing related work.