Some students in San Francisco will be getting paid internships, thanks to their local school district. Visit http://www.experience.com to find out more.

Students in the San Francisco Unified School District have had the opportunity to partake in the Career Technical Education Summer Internship Program, the district internship program, for more than 10 years. However, the current economic recession has made it tougher than usual.

The goal of the internship program is to help teenagers find their future in law, medicine, construction or other industries. While many employers volunteered to pay interns in the past, they are having more trouble doing so this year, saying they can't afford or justify the expense when business is going downhill.

For instance, in the past, Kaiser Permanente had been able to provide 24 part-time positions and sponsor 20 others, but this year the company only offered five full-time jobs and five part-time jobs. PG&E used to offer 20 internships, but cut that number to five last year and two this year.

So for the first time, the school district did its part to keep the program alive by contributing $150,000 to help pay the 246 students taking part in six-week summer internships. In the end, nobody who was qualified enough for a position was turned away.

"Had we not been able to use that funding, I would say two-thirds would not have gotten an internship," Lynn Garcia, who helps run the district's program, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Students from eight of the district's 17 high schools participated in the internship program this summer, earning about $10 per hour and working 20 hours per week.