FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin on Friday announced a partnership between Treasury and Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C., to open a new Law and Legal Services Academy.

Through the Partnership in Education Internship Program, Treasury will detail officials to assist with the management of Eastern's Law and Legal Services Academy, develop academic curriculum based on school-to-career strategies and strengthen existing internship programs. Additionally, Treasury will donate more than 80 computers to serve every classsroom at Eastern.

"Today marks the beginning of an even stronger and more productive relationship between the Treasury Department and Eastern Senior High School," Secretary Rubin said. "Programs like the Law and Legal Services Academy bring together the private and public sector to benefit students, area businesses and the community as a whole. I think this program has made a difference and I look forward to building on this effort."

The Treasury Partnership in Education Internship Program began in 1995 with 20 students from Eastern and Wilson High Schools in unpaid internships. Originally sponsored by Treasury's law enforcement bureaus, the program expanded to include the Law, Justice and Security Academy at Anacostia High School. Last summer, Treasury and its bureaus employed 160 students from Anacostia, Eastern and Wilson High Schools as interns. Since 1995, nearly 200 D.C. high school students have completed Treasury's internship program.

Treasury's student interns gain work experience in a wide range of bureaus and offices throughout the department. Currently, District high school teachers are working with the Partnership in Education program to develop a range of internships to help students understand Treasury's work in the domestic and international fields. A similar exchange of ideas is underway between teachers at Anacostia's Law, Justice and Security Academy and officials from Treasury law enforcement and the Department of Defense.

Secretary Rubin, Eastern Senior High School Principal Dewey Reeves and D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman met today with students of the new legal academy in the school's auditorium for a presentation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.