­­This year has been a successful year for the Junction City Blue Jays who participated in community internships. A record number of students participated in community internships during the 2016-2017 school year.

This year 75 seniors interned in the community compared to an average of 30 or 40 students in previous years said Vern Steffans, the Coordinator of Secondary Programs. Internships provide seniors with experience in a potential career field.

“It does one or two things,” Steffans said. “it entices them to continue in that career field, or they realize they’re not meant for that career field and pursue something else.”

Unlike previous years, seniors with internships presented about their experience during an intern expo day to other students.

“Their job was to sell their internships to the junior class so they get more exposure to internships,” Steffans said.

Steffans has worked hard to find many different internship opportunities throughout the community.

“Examples of internships are the law firms, pharmacies, Great Life, and anywhere that’s a viable business and if they find a place I haven’t researched before I’ll go and visit the place and make sure it’s good for students,”stated Steffens.

Many seniors end up getting a good amount of experience just through the internship alone.

“It was an amazing experience because as a high school student, and even just beginning college, hardly anyone can get this experience, such as being able to watch surgeries in person. At the internship, I basically just shadowed CAN’s, nurses, and doctors to see what it was like working in the healthcare field”, senior Courtney Skillern said.

Internships can help students choose a career and create a path for their future. It not only gives them insight on what future jobs might look like, but can also provide skills that will help with in that career.

For Skillern, the internship experience helped her be more certain of her of her future career choice.

“It motivated me because I know what I want to be but having actual medical professionals support my choice makes it feel as if I have a support system,” Skillern said. “With that support system, I’m more willing to apply myself and pursue my goals”

Aubrey Hitchcock, who interns at Junction City Middle School, enjoys the interaction with the kids and the music. She also enjoys seeing the connection students have when they learn the music and understand the potential of using it outside of the class. Hitchcock’s instructor has influenced her to continue following a path in education.

Another intern was Quinlan Roth, who interns inside of the school for Joel Garver, who is the Audio Video teacher. He explained that being an intern for the school gives him the chance and the experience on what working in a video production field is like.

“It taught me the importance of meeting deadlines and using my time wisely as I need to in the real world and college,” Roth said.