By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD — Many local educational systems and their high schools have a senior class internship program, in which seniors or some seniors work in an internship in their final quarter of the year. It gives students work experience, hopefully at something they like, and eliminates senioritis, a condition in which seniors, having already been accepted to college, often just go through the motions in that last quarter. It’s almost unavoidable.
Wakefield did not have such a program, until now. This spring some seniors, probably about 15, have internships during the last quarter in a pilot program. “Students would go to an internship instead of classes,” Director of Guidance Dave Robinson told the School Committee at their meeting Tuesday, August 20. “We’ll start off slow to figure out what works and what doesn’t and see if we can grow the program.”
“We’re excited to get a program going this year,” Wakefield Memorial High School Principal Amy McLeod added. “Speaking with other principals, we were talking about how important it is for students to experience work and how it gets students out into the community.”
“It’s also a win for employers,” Robinson added. “They can start working with young adults in the community.”
The fourth quarter is ideal. With graduation and senior activities week it’s shorter for those students than for others. Students passing classes, with enough credits to graduate or on target to graduate, will be eligible. McLeod said many seniors meet those criteria, so some type of lottery or review committee might be needed for selection, as is the case with some classes.
Work hours would equal that of the school day and students would file reports on their experience. At the end of the term there might be a fair in which students prepare a presentation about the internship.
Often these internships lead to summer jobs or employment in the more distant future.
The numbers may be determined, in part, by how many internships can be generated. “It will be a challenge for us to find slots,” Superintendent Doug Lyons feels. He also thinks some could be found within town offices.
“We have to develop a database of people who would host internships,” Robinson added.
Students will be prepared or trained on soft skills needed for a job, such as proper attire and punctuality. “Engaging students in developing skills to help them manage their time has potential in terms of the skills we want to develop,” Lyons feels.
Students will receive credit for class time they would otherwise have had and the internship, but how will have to be undetermined. For some students final grades will be calculated through the third term, while students in Advanced Placement classes will continue to attend those classes before going to their internship.
“I think this is awesome and will attract students,” School Committee member Kevin Piskadlo reacted. “There’s so much that’s positive about this. It will be exciting for students who participate.”
He asked how the establishments offering or providing the internships would be vetted to determine “they’re appropriate sites with appropriate people.”
“There’ll be a process in which sites are visited and contact with a supervisor is maintained,” McLeod answered.
Some type of background check might be required, but she feels many of the hosts will already meet requirements because they host internships for students from other schools.
School Committee member Pete Davis called the internships “a great opportunity. It will give students an upper hand entering the workforce.”
“I imagine having an internship on a college application will be a boost,” School Committee member Kevin Fontanella commented.
“Colleges look positively on this,” Robinson confirmed.
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At the August 6 meeting, Lyons announced that Town Manager Steve Maio, Police Chief Steve Skory, School Department Director of Facilities Tim O’Brien and the new High School Construction Team came up with a plan to install traffic calming measures near the high school and Woodville School on Farm Street in response to a recent bike accident on Farm.
A more recent communique sent to the community at large indicated, “Safety measures have been put in place near the schools, including temporary speed bumps and signage prior to the Woodville crosswalk and the new crosswalk near Old Nahant Road prior to Hemlock Road, rectangular rapid flashing beacons at the new crosswalk, a newly created position for an additional crossing guard and refreshed School Zone line painting.”
“We’ve gotten feedback on this and I think this will be helpful to students and families,” Lyons said.
