Figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life can be tricky, especially when you are only 16 or 17 years old.
However, Healdsburg High School’s immersive junior internship program is helping students demystify the job market and the adult world of resumes, cover letters and interviews by giving kids a chance to intern in a hands-on, five day to one-week internship with a local business of their choice.
Program coordinator and scholarship and work-based learning coordinator Shelley Anderson took school officials on a tour of a few of the current interns’ work at local businesses on Friday to showcase student work and the course’s hands-on experience.
The program, led by Anderson, is in its eighth year and is funded by the Healdsburg Education Foundation and from donations from nonprofits such as the Rotary Club of Healdsburg.
The program has helped students pursue a career in fields such as IT tech, veterinary, communications and more. And while not all students decide to follow the career they interned with, they do come away with valuable skills such as time management and resume writing. They also learn skills not often learned in a classroom, like how to call in sick for work or dress appropriately.
Anderson said the most popular workplace students want to intern at are police and fire departments, hospitals or senior care facilities and computer programming design firms. However, she said some students are interested in internships with the Santa Rosa Symphony, local churches and the marine biology station at Bodega Bay.
On Feb. 15, Anderson took HHS Principal Bill Halliday, Healdsburg Unified School District Trustee Mike Potmesil and The Tribune on a tour of four local businesses where students are interning.
On a rainy Friday morning, the group traveled to McConnell Chevrolet, the Joey Manfre art studio, Fusion Technology Solutions LLC and the Healdsburg Fire Department to visit students during their workday.
Anderson said one of the most rewarding aspects about helping students with the program is seeing them get excited about the work that they do.
“I love when I see them, this morning I saw a student who really wants to be a pilot and he is at the Sonoma Jet Center. I asked, ‘Allen, how is it going?’ And he said, ‘It is really good, Ms. Anderson!’ So for him, he’s probably going to volunteer for them now and build that relationship and they will show him the path of how to become a pilot and maybe he’ll work for them someday,” Anderson said. “So seeing a kid’s idea solidify into a plan for the future is super exciting.”
At the completion of their internships, students will create a presentation of their experience for a panel of judges on March 13 at Healdsburg High School.
