IHS seniors are finding internships at area businesses can help them chart their futures. They also find the real-world work environment helps them develop a healthy work ethic and better understand the expectations of a job long before they enter the workforce.
Those were the messages Iola High School interns repeated at a state education conference earlier this week. Eight of the school’s 22 senior interns traveled to the Kansas Career and Technical Education Conference Tuesday in Manhattan, where they spoke before a standing-room only crowd of about 100 school administrators and teachers from across the state.
Their presentation was touted by the conference’s keynote speaker, and several school administrators have since reached out to Melissa Stiffler, IHS’s CTE Coordinator, to request more information to help them start similar programs.
Each of the students gave a short presentation about their respective internships, what they’ve learned from the experience and how it will help them in the future.
Lexie Vega, Bowlus Fine Arts Center
Lexie wants to teach speech, communications and drama, so an internship at the Bowlus offered a perfect opportunity to see the job from a different perspective.
At the Bowlus, she’s learned how to operate equipment and software, how to work with crews from shows that travel to the theater for special performances, and how everything comes together behind the scenes.
“I’ve been able to learn how to run my own theater one day, which puts me way ahead of anyone else going into the same field because I have hands-on experience,” she said. “People come from all over the world to perform in Iola, and I’m really lucky to have that experience.”
Until her internship, Lexie wasn’t sure if she would find the same satisfaction from teaching as she does from performing.
“Being a performer, I knew what it felt like waiting on the stage, getting butterflies in your tummy right before a performance and feeling the lights hit your face,” she said. “I didn’t know how it would feel behind the scenes as a teacher and helping students, and at my first road show I was really nervous. This time, I was the one turning on the lights. I was the one drawing the curtains. And immediately, when the show started, I got those same butterflies. My internship reassured me this is exactly where I want to be.”
Gaby Lampe, biomedical intern at Allen County Regional Hospital
Hospital interns focus more on observation, because various confidentiality laws and regulations limit their ability to interact with patients. But each of the biomedical interns said their experience has helped them narrow their career choices in the healthcare field.
Lampe developed a greater appreciation for respiratory therapists, who she described as the unsung heroes of the emergency room.
“You don’t really see them, because you’re dealing with the nurses asking you questions or the doctors coming in, but it’s kind of important to have a respiratory therapist. You need to breathe,” she said, eliciting laughs from the audience.
She’s also seen how technology advancements have been slowly incorporated by the staff. Some nurses who have been at ACRH for 20 or more years still take handwritten notes, then input them into the computer. Nurses who are new to the job rely more on technology.
