With the school year now back in session, that also means programs like the internship and the work programs are also starting back up.  With this comes a brand new set of students and a brand new workforce.

Students like Kylen Phillips (11) enjoys his Work Program job at the Midwest Food Bank where he gets to help people in need. “Even though I don’t work with people in need directly, I still get a warm feeling from knowing that I am helping someone other than myself,” said Phillips.  Kylen leaves school at what would be his 7th hour and then take a bus to their designated place of work. The Midwest Food Bank is a popular job for students that are in the work program. The work program’s overall goal is to get students ready for the workforce after high school. 

Students that want a direct approach may be able to seek out an internship program under a specific teacher for a certain subject.  Senior Sydney Bills has an internship under Mr. Taylor of the Agriculture department. When asked what she does as an intern, she replied, “I do simple tasks that he would normally do alone. For example, prep for classes, making copies, or even organizing the classroom to make it look better.”  

The goal of an internship is to give students an opportunity to see what they might want to do after high school.  When asked if this internship has made her realize what she might want to do after high school Bills said, “Yes, because at first I thought about being a veterinarian, but it seems more fun to be a teacher and still have the opportunity to work with animals.” 

By the time they are seniors, many students need an idea of what they want to go into after high school, and the internship program helps meet this need. When asked if she would suggest this to other students, Bills said “I would because then you can go out and find what you might want to do and see if you would actually want to do that for the rest of your life.”  Some students that have internships found out they don’t like the job, and that has saved them the time and money it would take to pursue after high school.

Treavor Taylor is one of the teachers at West that offers an internship program.   When asked about having an intern this semester he replied, “It has made things easier than just having to do every little thing alone and have to juggle teaching five classes.” He added, “It’s taken some off the stress having Sydney run errands for me and has given me more time to put into specific classes instead of putting more effort into prep work.”  

Mr. Taylor encourages students to get out into the community to see what interests them, and if they like it, then maybe it could be their job.  “It gives work experience to them so that they get a glimpse of the workforce without having to be in the job as a regular employee.” 

Students can still register for the Work Program for next semester.   As for internships, students have to work that out with the teacher they want to work with and their own counselor here at West.