When Darrion Bell wore a fire helmet and jacket to the closing celebration of the 2021 Summer in the City internship program, he wasn’t merely representing the City department he’d interned with for the past two months. 

He was signaling his intention to be one of Knoxville Fire Department’s newest recruits.  

Bell’s announcement resulted in uproarious cheers of support from his fellow interns and the parents and City staff members assembled. 

KFD Principal Secretary and Bell’s internship supervisor Debby Corlew confirms that he has been selected to interview for the upcoming Recruit class. 

During his internship, Bell shadowed and assisted members of several KFD divisions, including Fire Prevention, EMS, Training and Logistics. He also spent time in the Administration site of KFD.  

“Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we did not fraternize as much as usual, but he was able to ride along with Logistics one full day, making deliveries at a number of different fire stations,” Corlew says.

Bell also spent a week with the Training division, which took him to several fire stations.  

Bell’s experience gave him extra insight into the day-to-day lives of City firefighters and further informed his desire to pursue firefighting as a career. 

Learning about the City also gave Community Empowerment intern Sade Gary an inside look at employment opportunities. On the day of the final presentation, she announced she was applying for the open position of Vehicle Impoundment Lot Assistant. 

Internships and the opportunities they offer to young people are extremely significant to their success in school and the job market. 

In fact, the new assistant in the Mayor’s office, Ayauna Blair, was a Summer in the City intern for the Community Empowerment department in 2017 and returned as a department intern in 2018. 

And, in the past few years, at least one Summer in the City intern has stayed on as an after-school employee with the Parks and Recreation department. 

Thanks to every department that hosted a Summer in the City intern this year and provided young people a valuable opportunity to learn the inner workings of a city government as well as gain insight on working life and careers in the public sector.