High School Internships Offer Real-World Experience

By Abby Van Bremen, 17, and Josh Thoune, 17. Contributors include Alex Bott, 11; Carlie Coccia, 10, and David Broadway, 9.

"I was on my hands and knees and the flames are right on my head," recalled Shaun Peranteau, 18, of Marquette. "It’s a great hands-on experience, and this is stuff you would never learn in a classroom in school."

Peranteau, a senior at Marquette Senior High School is referring to a controlled burn exercise during his internship with the Marquette Township Fire Department.

Peranteau is one of almost 1,500 high school students in Marquette and Alger Counties who have participated in the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency internship program since it began in 1986. The yearlong internship program works with local businesses and agencies to place motivated high school seniors in real-world job situations in a variety of fields of interest.

In addition to Marquette, MARESA also coordinates internships with Negaunee, Superior-Central, Gwinn and Ishpeming high schools.

"Internships are a very important part of education. More students should take advantage of them. It enriches them not only academically, but they also learn important people skills," said Sandy Meyskens, educational consultant to MARESA. She coordinates the MSHS internship program.

"At the end of the internship the student either has said ‘Yes, this is what I really want to do,’ because they’ve had the experience, or they say ‘No, I don’t want that. And that’s just as good because they’ve made a decision," Meyskens said.

Students must meet requirements to qualify for an internship. Excellent attendance, a 2.0 grade point average, the completion of necessary preparatory classes involving their career pathway, and an interview with the coordinator are all required steps in becoming an intern. Meyskens says these requirements strengthen the program by filtering out the slackers.

"When you have an internship it means that you’re an ambassador of your school, so I look for somebody that works very hard," Meyskens said.

Internships also enrich the high school learning experience of those who respond better to alternative styles of learning.

"I’m a more hands-on, visual person, so it helps me a lot," said Lisa Gummerus, 17, a senior at MSHS.

Gummerus interns at Northern Star Broadcasting and has learned skills such as the operations of a soundboard, sales calls, and producing commercials. She enjoys the independent structure of her internship.

"It’s not like when you go to class and the teacher sits you all down and tells you what to do. You’re basically out in the real world, so not everything is laid out for you. You’re just on your own, all by yourself," Gummerus said. "I found out there’s so much more than just sitting with the headphones on and talking at a radio station."

Gummerus admits however that there are some drawbacks to holding an internship while in high school.

"At first I felt like I was missing out on things at school because I wasn’t there for so long, so I had to work harder to be more in tune to things going on," she said.

Although the students may experience some difficulties, Meyskens is convinced that the sacrifices are well worth it.

"It’s more than just getting your grade; it’s to help you prepare for the next step in your life," she said.