The HISD Departments of College and Career Readiness employ many tactics to prepare students for life after high school graduation, including one-on-one advising, PSAT/SAT prep, college application assistance, and more. CCR is always on the lookout for opportunities for graduation-bound students that will give them a leg-up in the professional world.

One of these opportunities is the SAP Internship Program, launched in 2017 and developed to give participating students on-the-job experience working with SAP programs in different arenas, cycling interns through weeks in various HISD departments that utilize the program in different ways.

SAP, which stands for System Applications and Products, is a widely used ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software that covers all IT necessities, including operating systems, databases and applications, and data protection. SAP is a cornerstone of nearly all operations within HISD and in other organizations and businesses in the private sector around the world, from sales to purchasing to finance.

In addition to the SAP internship, many HISD students are learning the core principals and concepts of SAP in the classroom, and those students showcased the skills in a week of fun, engaging challenge opportunities during HISD’s SAP Week.

SAP Week is a week of events curated to be a yearly capstone in students’ CTE (Career and Technical Education) experience and included an Entrepreneur Fair, mock interviews with some of the nation’s leading businesses, and an SAP Game Day in which students competed against military veterans and SAP experts to test their skills. All of these fun and challenging events took place at Sam Houston MSTC.

Additionally, Jennifer Gracia Moreno, HISD employee, Houston MSTC alum and graduate of the SAP internship program, spoke to students about her experience learning SAP and transitioning into an SAP-focused career with HISD’s SAP Configuration Department.

The Entrepreneur Fair was held on Monday, May 22. During the fair, enterprising students had the opportunity to share original business plans with guests and judges through pitch presentations.

SAP Game Day saw students defending last year’s title in a Monopoly-like game to test their knowledge of SAP content against some of the country’s leading experts on the program: military veterans from Fort Bliss. Once again, HISD’s SAP students were victorious.

Students participated in mock interviews with professionals from businesses that use SAP, including Houston’s SAP corporate office, City of Houston staff and HISD executives. This was an opportunity for students to gain real-world experience marketing themselves and the wealth of knowledge they have accrued learning and practicing with SAP. It is also an opportunity for them to see examples of businesses that use SAP and the kinds of opportunities a working knowledge of SAP can afford them.

SAP Game Day ended with an awards ceremony to recognize the students and the hard work that they put into their CTE studies over the school year.

“Our young learners are further inspired, encouraged, and empowered to further their career aspirations,” said Marcus Compton, Senior CTW Program Specialist and SAP Campus Program Manager with HISD. “Our students cannot wait for next year course of study and end of year events. We are truly proud of the success of our students.”

To learn more about the College and Career Readiness Departments and the CTE programs available at HISD, visit their website here.