“Assisting the students and ensuring they have the necessary tools to be successful during an interview is a community effort,” Lemon said. “Watching them gain confidence and learning how to put their best foot forward is rewarding to all involved.”
Business owners give students feedback on resumes and help with interview skills, Lemon said.
“They come here and have the opportunity to meet with local human resources executives and get feedback, mock interviews; it’s just kinda prep work,” Lemon said.
Nicholas Kuciak, a senior at Shawnee High School, said the mock interviews were a great way to build confidence in his interviewing skills.
“It was great to get feedback from a human resources representative that has daily experience with that sort of thing,” Kuciak said.
Kuciak said that his dream internship would involve something having to do with mechanical engineering.
“If I could find something in mechanical engineering, that would be literally perfect,” Kuciak said. “But right now I’m really just looking for something regarding engineering.”
Students who attended the Internship Day had to go through an application process for acceptance.
Students are also enrolled at Clark State Community College where they will earn their Customer Service and OSHA workplace certifications. This year, over 50 students were accepted into the program.
Cole Harsh, a representative with Yamada North America, said that students from this program are simply better trained than other interns.
“All of the kids that come from here are very well-trained and coached,” Harsh said. “We love having interns from here because of that. They are very well prepared.”
The internship program is part of Greater Springfield CareerConnectED, which is dedicated to connecting students and employers.
Robert Hill, Superintendent of Springfield City School District, said that is the point of the program, to empower students to be well prepared in the work place.
“The CCED high school internship program is designed to empower and train the next generation of leaders,” Hill said. “Not only does it represent the best collaboration and shared service among schools, but it shows the strong commitment to education and enforce development among Greater Springfield business.”
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