Iola High School students who work as interns at local businesses soon will add a new skill to their resumes: state conference presenters.
IHS students learned last week they will give a presentation during the Kansas Career and Technical Education Annual Conference in February 2020.
Theyre believed to be the first students to give a presentation at the conference, which gathers together more than 500 educators from across the state to network and talk about innovative programs, the latest developments in career and technical education and more.
There have been a lot of adults talking about what students are doing, but I would love to hear from the students themselves, Melissa Stiffler, USD 257s CTE coordinator, said.
The IHS presentation is expected to give other districts better insight into Iolas internship program and perhaps encourage more schools to develop similar programs.
The presentation will be given by eight IHS students who are among 22 who work as interns for local businesses. The students put together a detailed proposal.
Being chosen as a presenter at the conference is quite a competitive process, Stiffler said. She was so confident the students would be selected, she booked their hotel rooms in September.
This is a big conference, Stiffler said.
The students are entirely responsible for the presentation, with Stiffler acting as their adviser.
I want them to say this is why were doing this, and this is how we made it happen, she said.
The conference runs Feb. 3-5 at Manhattan and is sponsored by the Kansas Association of Education Service Agencies, which includes Greenbush. The Iola students are scheduled to present on Feb. 4; the time has not yet been announced.
The group will practice their presentation in front of school board members at their 6 p.m. Jan. 20 meeting.
