Sample cover letter for Internship position at ACHIEVE

As a current undergraduate at Yale University, I write to apply for the ACHIEVE Charter School Summer Internship Program. I am drawn to ACHIEVE’s focus on narrowing the achievement gap found in economically disadvantaged urban schools and am committed to the goal of empowering students with the educational foundation they need to succeed in their future endeavors. As someone who is drawn to interactive, collegial learning environments and seeks out opportunities to employ my research and communication skills, I feel I would be able to make a strong contribution to the ACHIEVE Charter School Summer Internship Program. My strong commitment to ACHIEVE’s mission of improving educational outcomes in urban school stems from my personal experience coming from an inner-city high school in Cleveland and attending Yale University. The inequalities in educational opportunities that I have seen between my high school and college classmates has instilled in me a passion to assist others in gaining access to a quality education, regardless of their financial status. I have demonstrated this commitment through my volunteer experiences in high school and at Yale. Throughout high school I volunteered weekly at the local Boys and Girls Club after school program, where I tutored middle-school students in science and mathematics. I have continued my involvement with tutoring through the Yale TIES (Tutoring in Elementary Schools) program, where I individually tutor a fifth-grade student in mathematics and I co-teach a weekly after school science seminar for a group of 10 fourth-grade girls. Seeing the girls light up with excitement while participating in a science experiment or the student who has struggled with a mathematical concept finally understand what to do has been immeasurably rewarding for me. Beyond the rewards, these experiences have taught me how to tailor my approach to the students’ needs and effectively communicate concepts to a group, skills I know would serve me well in the ACHIEVE internship. I would value the opportunity to contribute to ACHIEVE through this internship and to learn more about the unique teaching methods being employed as part of ACHIEVE’s curriculum. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you to discuss my qualifications in greater detail