ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A free summer program is giving students in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho a chance to sharpen their professional skills.

“Usually in normal schooling, we don’t usually learn those things so Horizons is a really good opportunity for us to be able to learn those things,” student Tabitha Ponce said.

Horizons Albuquerque is teaching students how to write a resume, prepare for job interviews and more during their six-week program.

“We want them to learn those skills to be successful in their post-secondary education as well as in their careers in the future,” Tracy Herrera said.

Horizons is a nonprofit that works with schools across the metro to work with community members and businesses to help students sharpen their skills.

“Those are the people that are helping them learn how to write resumes, how to talk with employers, how to interview, what to wear to an interview.”

One of their partners is Dion’s.

“They get to come and be interns at the Dion’s home office so they are working with folks at the HR department, marketing and HR,” Deena Crawley said.

Aside from the summer program, Horizons also offers tutoring, family events and other things for K-12 students to help close what they describe as “the opportunity gap.”

Students often stick with the Horizons program all the way from Kindergarten to 12th grade. If you’d like to learn more about it, click here.