By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Nearly one year ago, the USD 428 Board of Education approved a new internship program for eligible Great Bend High School students. On Thursday, ACT and Career Coordinator Lacy Wolters was back in front of the board to provide an update on the program during a luncheon at GBHS. Thirteen students went through the program in its first year, interning at seven local businesses.
Wolters explained the continuum of types of internships, from very hands-on to observational. Four students saw the gamut of hospital activities as observational interns at The University of Kansas Health System - Great Bend Campus.
"They see everything, not just those health-related careers maybe they're thinking of," Wolters said. "So, yes, they are spending time in ER, labor, surgery, and delivery. They're also going to maintentance, advertising, compliance, and ordering, supply chain management. They're getting to see how that whole health system works."
Madelynn Gregg was one of the four seniors interning at the local hospital. She knew she wanted to enter the medical field as a profession, but now has narrowed her interest to a few fields. She said she was also able to apply many of the things she's learned in the classroom to the field.
"I was taking a CNA college class while I was taking this internship, so I got to see the crossover between everything," she said. "I was learning about something in that class, then I was watching it happen in the internship, so I understood what was going on. All the classes I'd taken at the high school and was taking at the college helped me understand everything that was going on in there."
Wolters also shared Drew DeWitt's story. Knowing a traditional university was not his path after graduation, he landed an internship with Comfort Pro in Great Bend. He accepted a job right after his interview over the summer, completed his internship through the program, and has now graduated early and works full-time at Comfort Pro.
Students logged about 60 hours each semester in the program, either at their host business or in the classroom. Afternoon students stayed until 3 p.m., but several replaced other part-time jobs and stayed until 5 p.m. About a quarter of the first 13 interns were paid for their work while receiving school credit. The first season came to a close in December, when each student intern presented a digital portfolio about the experience at an event at Great Bend High School.