{"id":23376,"date":"2022-01-26T15:52:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T20:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:30:17","slug":"project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_24787\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24787\" class=\"wp-image-24787 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-24787\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Project SEARCH interns, shown front row left to right David Santos, Daniela Zorrilla, and Alexandra Talbot. Back row left to right Ross Barton, Greer Candage, and James Keith.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Haverhill, MA (January 26, 2022)-Since becoming neighbors in Haverhill eight years ago, the relationship between Northern Essex Community College and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opportunityworks.org\/\">Opportunity Works<\/a>, an organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities, has continued to grow.<br \/>\nOne of the most successful partnerships has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opportunityworks.org\/programs-services\/#project-search\">Project SEARCH<\/a>, a business-led internship program that prepares people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and on the Autism spectrum with secure integrated, competitive employment.<\/p>\n<p>In the past eight years, over 30 college departments have taken on a Project SEARCH intern.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of nine months (a school year), participants intern for three, 10-week periods with three different departments on campus.\u00a0 In addition to the work experience, they begin and end each day with work readiness classes covering topics like job interviews, resume writing, teamwork, professionalism, self-advocacy and technology in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s interns include Ross Barton of Andover, Brianna Caissie of Lynn, Greer Candage of Bradford, James Keith of North Andover, David Santos of Lawrence, Alexandra Talbot of North Andover, and Daniela Zorrilla of Lawrence.<\/p>\n<p>Interns have been working on the COVID Team and in the mailroom, the health &amp; wellness center, the caf\u00e9, the library, the YMCA child care center, and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorking with Project SEARCH is extremely rewarding both professionally and personally,&#8221; said Michael McCarthy, vice president of administration for Northern Essex. &#8220;Northern Essex and Opportunity Works share a common goal of preparing individuals to advance in their careers and lives, so this is a natural fit. Seeing the interns\u2019 pride as they graduate at the end of the program is inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After they complete the program, the interns are prepared to seek out paid positions in the community. Since the program was started, graduates have been hired by Market Basket, Aubuchon Hardware, Target, Marshalls, and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Project Search interns gain new employability skills, make new friends, develop professional contacts, find career interest and earn real job experience. Just like everyone else, these interns want to contribute to society. They have their own hopes, dreams and goals in life and NECC helps them experience just that,\u201d said Jessica DelRosso, Project SEARCH manager.<\/p>\n<p>The interns are enthusiastic about the experience and shared this feedback:<\/p>\n<p>David Santos: \u201cProject SEARCH is an opportunity to learn things about college, it gives me the opportunity to help find a job and also find new friends that I didn\u2019t have before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniela Zorrilla: Project SEARCH is a place that you could learn new things about the work places and learn about the school. You also get to meet new people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James Keith: \u201cProject SEARCH is a great resume builder and helps you obtain different skills in different internships. It would help you find a new job that best suits your skills. Plus, you can make new friends. My experience is amazing and incredible\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information, contact Allison Gagne, NECC\u2019s director of auxiliary services, agagne@necc.mass.edu.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers\u00a0approximately\u00a060\u00a0associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.\u00a0 Each year,\u00a06,000\u00a0students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and\u00a0another 2,000\u00a0take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.\u00a0 For more information, visit the website at\u00a0necc.edu\u00a0or call 978-556-3700.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since becoming neighbors in Haverhill eight years ago, the relationship between NECC and Opportunity Works, an organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities, has continued to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":23377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,18,20],"tags":[481,518],"class_list":["post-23376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-spotlight","category-students","tag-opportunity-works","tag-project-search"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since becoming neighbors in Haverhill eight years ago, the relationship between NECC and Opportunity Works, an organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities, has continued to grow.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T20:52:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T19:30:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ernie Greenslade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernie Greenslade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/\",\"name\":\"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-26T20:52:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-13T19:30:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg\",\"width\":2439,\"height\":1690},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9\",\"name\":\"Ernie Greenslade\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ernie Greenslade\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/egreenslade\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News","og_description":"Since becoming neighbors in Haverhill eight years ago, the relationship between NECC and Opportunity Works, an organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities, has continued to grow.","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2022-01-26T20:52:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-13T19:30:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2439,"height":1690,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ernie Greenslade","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ernie Greenslade","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/","name":"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-26T20:52:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-13T19:30:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Project-SEARCH-cropped.jpg","width":2439,"height":1690},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/26\/project-search-interns-enhance-necc-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Project SEARCH Interns Enhance NECC Community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9","name":"Ernie Greenslade","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ernie Greenslade"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/egreenslade\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23376"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33124,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23376\/revisions\/33124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}