Internships give seniors a head start

Noblesville High School seniors have discovered a way to peek at what their futures in the real world may look like.

They have been playing a double role of student and employee, enrolled in a business internship program that allows them to attend class half of
the school day and work for the other half.

"I'm trying to get students into the workplace to see the expectations of the real world," said Mrs. Connie Blessing, their business internship
director.

It is a real-world experience that comes with a pay check, too.

This year Mrs. Blessing has placed 16 students in the workplace. After discussing budgeting, investing, insurance and taxes in her classes, she sends them out to apply the lessons.

Before placing students, Mrs. Blessing interviews each one and sets up a second interview with the company.

The class works with the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce's School-to-Work initiative. Mrs. Blessing said as soon as the school-to-work
program got involved, more professional job opportunities became available to the students.

"It's a great program," she said, "I often get calls, but don't have enough students (to fill the position)."

Students also set goals for their program dealing with ethics, responsibility and positive work habits.

Amanda works at Riverview Hospital in the outpatient therapy department. She said she has learned about stressful situations and setting her priorities.

"I expected them to be more easy on me," she said. "I have a lot more responsibilities than I thought I would."

She goes to work from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. everyday, where she works the front desk, schedules therapy for patients and assists doctors in the gym during therapy sessions.

Brett works at the Noblesville Square Animal Clinic. He watches over the dogs and cats, helps doctors examine the animals and gives fluids to household pets.

"It's very hard to get into vet school before ever working with a veterinarian," said Dr. Mona Gitter, "So this opportunity is a tremendous asset to him."

Dr. Gitter said it is often hard to find a job in the field if a student does not show he or she can handle the hands-on dirt that is involved.

Brett said he is glad he got the chance to find out about being a veterinarian.

"I like working with the animals," he said. "I wanted to be a vet."

Seeing the sick animals, however, is too much for him, he said.

He is now considering working on the stock market.
He changed his mind after job-shadowing classmate Tim who works at Charles Schwab.

Tim said working at Charles Schwab is a unique opportunity for a high school student.

"At the beginning, it just looked like a half-day off of school," Tim said. "But later, I found out you can use it to your advantage."

He has gotten a few of his classmates to shadow him for a day, which has triggered their interest in finance and economics.

"I've learned more at this job than I had in school," Tim said. "On the job, you know what everyone goes through. It makes you look at life
another way."

(Reprinted with permission from The Daily Ledger)