Chandler Unified outlines yearlong push to expand internships, launches MITE class in fall 2025

Patrick Brown, coordinator of workforce development for Chandler Unified School District, told the governing board on April 23 that the district is expanding employer partnerships and will launch a two-semester class called MITE (Mentorships, Internships and Careers) in fall 2025 to prepare juniors and seniors for internships and postsecondary work.

Brown said the district has added about 19 new business and organizational partners over the past two years and described a range of employer relationships, from local small businesses that provide flexible, remote or project-based internships to larger partners brokered through ElevateEd, a third-party workforce connector with relationships at companies such as Bank of America, Mayo Clinic and Honeywell. "We had about 56 exhibitors [at the Build for Tomorrow Expo] and about 160 community attendees," he said, summarizing a recent career fair at Perry High School.

Why it matters: Brown and district staff framed workforce development as a multi-year pathway — beginning with kindergarten career literacy conversations and moving through CTE classes, apprenticeships and internships — intended to give students both technical credentials and the soft skills employers expect. The MITE course is designed to create a predictable, teacher-supervised pathway that employers can rely on when placing interns.

What Brown proposed and what the class will do

Brown described MITE as a two-semester, for-credit course aimed at 11th- and 12th-grade CTE completers. The first semester is classroom-based and focuses on career exploration, resume/portfolio development, job search skills, workplace professionalism, basic income management and legal/ethical employment issues. "The first semester we consider building skills for career success," Brown said. In the second semester students complete internships, paid or unpaid, and must meet the state requirement of 30 hours of supervised work in order to earn academic credit.

District staff said six CTE teachers will write and teach the MITE curriculum. Teachers will act as the teacher-of-record and on-site liaison; each internship site will be visited by the teacher at least three times during the placement.

Partnerships and pilot examples

Brown described three partnership models: 1) large-company arrangements brokered through ElevateEd that place a district staffer on campus (initially at Chandler High and Basha…