The Malden High School Senior Internship Program provides eligible seniors with the opportunity to explore a career they may be interested in for the future. It is a chance for students to see if they really enjoy that career path and if they don’t, they’ll know sooner rather then finding out they don’t like it when taking classes in college.
The benefits of being apart of this program include that seniors learn about a career for free, students are exempt from final exams, it looks great on your resume, and some students receive part time jobs after their internships.
The Senior Internship coordinator, Beth Horwitz, said that “not only do seniors have the opportunity to learn about a career field but [they] also make connections.”
Horwitz also said that “it gives [them] exposure to the real world before [they] actually graduate college and get ready to work. It allows students to experience it before [they’re] actually out there”. Horwitz added that it’s a “privilege” to get a chance like this.
A quote from an anonymous intern last year said that “The experience is definitely going to be a new one and it’s a change from what [you’ve] been doing the first three quarters so there’s that. The experience could give you a head start on whatever career you’re trying to pursue, but the best part of the senior internship is the experience, hands down. It can be scary going out of your comfort zone, but it’s worth it.”
The Senior Internship team leader, Taryn Belowsky, said that it “benefits the students in several different ways. It’s a great way to see if [you] like what [you’re] going to study in college. College is very expensive and [you] don’t want to waste four years of your time and money on a career [you] don’t really like.”
Each student in this program gets to pick a staff member from the high school to be their mentor that they really connect with. “[They] help [them] throughout the process, check in with [them], or if [they] have any questions about anything, the students can always lean on that person at the high school and then that mentor also grades their final paper and their presentation during the senior internship exhibition” Belowsky said.
Belowsky has been apart of this for four years and mentioned that she “enjoys it a lot, besides the paperwork aspect of it, which is a little hefty at times, the program is really great. It’s a great way for students to get real world experience and kind of break out of the high school before they graduate which is really important.”
In order to be in this program, students are required to do a page long written proposal answering questions like “Who are you working with?” and “What do you hope to learn from this experience?”. It is so that they make sure the students go out with an official source and that they’re really invested in the program. The house principal also has to sign off saying the student is in good conduct standing and the counselor has to sign off saying that the student has their graduation requirements.
The program was created by Michele Magner, a technology teacher here at Malden High who retired last year.
The program has been running for about ten years now and it’s been really successful.
Students have gone on many different internships, which include going to nursing homes in the area, Cambridge Health Alliance, Make a Wish foundation, Physical Therapy Offices and more. A popular one that students tend to visit the most is areas regarding photography.
Senior, Grace Lugo is going to be visiting the Salemwood School as assistant to the principal. Lugo choose this for her Senior Internship because she likes to “work with kids and seeing the way they interact with people who care for them. [She’d] also like to give them advice about high school and help them be prepared for it.”
Lugo intends on going into a career that “helps kids while also being in the law enforcement department.” She also said she feels good about the internship because she’s going to be “learning some patience for kids that will be of use in the future. [She’ll] also have a positive impact on knowing she helped a student with an issue if their is one.”
If you are interested in going on Senior internship you can contact Horwitz at bhorwitz@maldenps.org.
