The average internship for high school students typically involves unpaid time spent completing mindless tasks such as filing papers, making copies, or taking coffee orders. But unCommon Construction offers a unique alternative that’s better preparing young adults for life beyond the classroom.

Based in New Orleans, the nonprofit offers an internship for high school students that not only pays an hourly rate and awards scholarships based on the fruits of their labor but also provides valuable, hands-on experience that’s applicable long after graduation. Participating students get to build a house together while developing the soft skills necessary for entering the workforce.

After a project is complete, the finished home is put up for sale. A percentage of the proceeds from each sale is used to award scholarships to the students who participated. Now that’s an internship that gives students something they can actually benefit from for the rest of their lives.