Huntington Seniors Explore Careers with Internships
As young people seek to gain an edge in a highly competitive world, they are increasingly turning to internships to flush out possible career interests and gain valuable experience.
Huntington High School has developed a popular career internship program for upperclassmen. Coordinated by social studies teacher Camille Tedeschi, college advisor Bernadette Walsh and retired school librarian Camille DeCanio, this year's initiative is providing participants with tangible benefits, including helping them decide on possible college majors.
Ms. Tedeschi said the student-interns are able to "learn real world applications" while still in high school. "An internship offers a chance to learn by doing in a setting where you are supervised by a work-place professional, and have the opportunity to achieve your own learning goals," she said. "Confucius once stated, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,' and this is portrayed in the lives of student interns at Huntington High School. The student internship program has been very productive this year."
The three faculty advisors pride themselves on cultivating a challenging and realistic environment for the interns. "The program has been so successful because of the welcoming faculty members and outside volunteers," Ms. Tedeschi said.
Current interns are working with a variety of professionals, including teachers at Woodhull and Jefferson elementary schools and the high school. "These mentors provide opportunities for student interns by building strong relationships that foster leadership, citizenship, responsibility, and service."
"The internship program has been a very rewarding experience for me because I am working with wonderful students and caring and dedicated facilitators and mentors," Ms. DeCanio said.
"The student internship program is designed to provide juniors and seniors with opportunities for enrichment activities that go beyond the traditional academic experience," according to the high school course guide. "During the year, students will pursue a career and develop a creative project. Participants will earn one academic credit for their year long placement. Students are required to work under the supervision of their mentor and to maintain a detailed journal reflecting on completed activities and knowledge gained from their experiences. Interns will be expected to participate in bi-monthly meetings with program coordinators."
"This is my fourth year with the student internship program and I've enjoyed being a part of this incredible program," Mrs. Walsh said. "I coordinate the career workshops, which include such topics as resume writing, interviewing skills, and budgeting."
In addition to internships with elementary and high school teachers, there are many other worthwhile and exciting ones that routinely occur with community based organizations and professionals, such as Huntington Hospital, Harborside Veterinary Hospital, Huntington Breast Cancer Coalition, Suffolk Legislator Jon Cooper, law firms and businesses and to name just a few.
"Huntington High School's tradition of excellence thrives on providing a foundation from which the community's youth will draw strength and inspiration and this is exactly what the student internship provides to students and mentors," Ms. Tedeschi said.
Each spring interns present their respective culminating project to a committee of parents, teachers and fellow students. "I have had student interns for the past three years and it has become one of my favorite parts of being a teacher," Ms. Tedeschi said. "I love working with the interns and hope to see many of them become future educators."
The internship program has taken hold at Huntington High School and its future seems secure. It fills an important niche for students seeking such experiences and the opportunity to earn academic credit makes it even more popular.
"Students pursue an internship as a capstone to the senior year as it's an exploratory program which allows students to test out a career before actually settling on a major in college," Mrs. Walsh said. "Many students have found that their internship experiences confirm their career choices while others learn that their original ideas about a particular career might not always be the case! In each instance, the student completes the program with the ability to further define their career path."