ALC Internships inspire students
An internship program at Nebo’s Advanced Learning Center has been helping High School Students try out career paths and prepare for the future.
This semester, 147 students from 5 area high schools are participating in the program. They are working at power plants, animal hospitals, florists, accountants, city offices, police departments, studios, schools and more. The attend twice a week for a semester.
“It’s endless the things the kids can do,” said program director Chris Thomas.
Thomas says the program gives kids an opportunity to explore careers they are interested in before having to commit to schooling or training. “They may say, ‘This is for me,’ or decide, ‘This wasn’t what I thought, I don’t even like it,’” said Thomas. “High School is an important time to explore and figure out where they want to go in life.”
Mason Iverson, a senior at Salem Hills, is doing a mechanical engineering internship at UAMPS power. He’s enjoyed “learning what the real world workforce is like and getting a better feel for what I want to do and how to achieve it.”
Angelica Nelson, a senior at Salem Hills, is interning at Forget Me Not Floral in Payson. “I absolutely love it! I am learning about how to run a business, how to create a keen eye for flower arrangements, the best ways to interact with customers and most importantly, how to love what you do even though sometimes it definitely gets a little crazy and you feel as though it’s not worth it,” she said.
Steven Jeffery, a senior at Maple Mountain, has been doing an internship with Spanish Fork Fire and Ambulance. He enjoys going out on calls and seeing the EMTs work. He would recommend an internship for any student, even if you’re unsure about your future plans.
“Even if you don't see an internship for the career that you are wanting to go into still do one! You never know what your career could be, and if you are questioning a career, go and do that internship to see if you like it or not. The only way to really know if you like something or not is to go and experience it,” he said.
Students interested in an internship through the ALC need to fill out an application and will be required to take a related CTE course. For a list of available internships, go to alc.nebo.edu/news/ work- based- learning- internship- placement-options.
Businesses interested in sponsoring an intern can contact Chris Thomas at chris. thomas@nebo.edu.