Eleven High School/High Tech students from around Maryland spent their summers working—not just watching—as interns in diverse settings that included a zoo, NASA, pharmacies, a radio station and a day care center.
These students gained self-confidence, experience, and knowledge of potential technology-related careers while they helped schoolchildren discover the wonderful world of snakes, developed a user manual for the grapple arm that repairs the Hubble Telescope, learned how to write and produce a radio commercial and processed digital media.
Representatives from each of the five local High School High Tech programs, funded by the Division of Rehabilitation Services through the grant from the Office of Disability Employment Policy, worked diligently with their students to make this internship experience one that they would not soon forget. Here is a sampling of what students accomplished this summer:
Gary:
| Gary, a senior at Overlea High School in Baltimore County, updates newspaper files for NFB-Newsline. |
Through his work with National Federation of the Blind’s High School/High Tech Transition to Independence Club, Gary secured an internship with NFB-Newsline, a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides electronic versions of regional publications for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Gary participated in a one-month unpaid internship. He updated the online reference files for regional newspapers and sent the updated information to the editor for posting on the Newsline website. He plans to write an essay for school about his experience. Gary will earn community service hours needed for graduation. He volunteered to help launch a ‘Students Only’ page for NFB’s Transition Club website.
He will graduate from Overlea High School in 2008 and plans to go to college as a business major or to pursue a career in computer repair.
Roman:
| Roman, a senior at James M. Bennett High School in Wicomico County, worked as a visitor center guide at the Salisbury Zoo. |
While working with Lower Shore Enterprises’ High School High Tech program, Roman expressed interest in working with animals. Staff at Lower Shore arranged for a summer internship for him with the Salisbury Zoo through their volunteer program.
Roman’s assignments included answering questions about the animals, informing visitors of safety rules and working interactive discovery stations with schoolchildren. Because of this internship, he has gained confidence with talking and communicating with the public, has learned about the variety of animals in the zoo, and has improved his self-esteem.
Alex:
| Alex, a senior at North County High School in Anne Arundel County, learned how to process digital media in the photography department at CVS. |
From the beginning of his participation in North County’s High School High Tech program, Alex has expressed a strong interest in photography. When the internship opportunity in CVS as a photo lab technician presented itself, he agreed to pursue it. In addition to learning to process digital media and traditional film, he gained skills in interacting in a professional environment. He thoroughly enjoyed his internship experience and has applied for a part-time after school position at the store.
Brent:
| Brent, a 2007 graduate of Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County, learned about storage and access of digitized media, as well as radio production, while working as an intern at VIVA 900, a small radio station in Laurel. |
Through the University of Maryland’s High School High Tech Young Scholars Program, Brent participated in a three-week pre-college experience in which he took a three-credit course in Music Technology, lived in the dorm, and participated in on-campus activities.
Following the three weeks on campus, he worked in an internship at VIVA 900, a small radio station in Laurel. He was given specific tasks to accomplish while working there – he transferred digitized media files from CDs to MP3 files to make the files accessible to production staff; was responsible for writing and producing a commercial, a concert promotional spot, and a station promotional spot.
Brent will attend Prince George’s Community College in September and plans to major in Music Technology.
Krista:
| Krista, a 2007 graduate of Northern Garrett High School in Garrett County, worked with special needs students during her summer internship at Head Start. |
While involved with Garrett County Public Schools’ High School High Tech Collaborative Transition Program, Krista has worked a variety of positions at Wisp Ski Resort, participated in job shadowing at a health center for Disability Mentoring Day, and has spoken of her experiences at a Statewide Transition Conference. She has expressed interest in either being a preschool teacher or a nursing assistant.
To help her to narrow down her decision, the Garrett County program assisted her in securing a summer internship with Grantsville Head Start, where she worked with children with special needs. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience, because she got to “work with a special needs child like my mom does.”
These students provide a sampling of the experiences our High School High Tech students had this summer. To see more of what our students accomplished, check the Summer Internships montage linked here.