In-house internships help Prairie students learn — and get paid

CEDAR RAPIDS — Prairie High School senior Kendal Erger is producing a series of short videos showcasing the district’s educational programs as part of an internship in the Community Relations department.

Erger is one of two students this semester in the school district’s first in-house internships, working in the College Community’s Community Relations and Information Technology departments.

In the videos Erger produces — called Take 5 for Prairie — she interviews educators, including Superintendent Doug Wheeler, about district initiatives. On Friday, she filmed a video where they chatted about opportunities like the growing agriculture and home construction programs.

The internships provide job experiences for students while setting an example for the rest of the community about what high school students can do in an internship, Wheeler said.

“We’re trusting a 17-year-old within our system to do a job, do it well and learn,” Wheeler said. “It’s a risk. It takes time. I see that tension between, ‘We’ve got a job to do as a business, but we also want to cultivate our next generation of workers.’”

Students are paid $900 for the 90-hour semester-long internships — about an hour of work per school day at $10 an hour. Students apply and are interviewed like they would be for any other internship or job. The program is a part of the district’s “Prairie Ready” initiative to prepare students for life beyond high school, which could include college, certification programs, apprenticeships and other career training opportunities.

“If they get to the end of this and realize they don’t want to go in the career direction of community relations or video production, that’s a success, too,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said he is “inspired” by the student interns, who are not only working hard, but bringing new ideas to district administrators.

Erger learned about the Community Relations intern job posting from an email from the district last year. She plans to study cinema at the University of Iowa and thought it would be a good opportunity to get more experience in producing and editing videos.

Community relations director Steve Doser said the department was missing a “video component” in its efforts to “tell the school district’s story.” Hiring a student intern was a great solution.

“We have a lot of talented students,” Doser said. “I’m hoping the internship provides work experience to help them put their education in to practice.”

“Companies are looking for good employees,” Doser said. “We’re hoping this internship provides a pathway for students to see what’s out there. We would love to keep our students in Iowa.”

The district is considering what other in-house internship opportunities it could make available to students in the coming years. One option is a diesel mechanic internship with the district’s transportation department. Another internship could be with the Prairie Early Childhood Center for students interested in a career in early childhood education.

Eric Townsley, executive director of information and technology, said there is a push among K-12 school districts’ information technology departments to provide internships to students. What’s different about Prairie’s program is that the students are paid.

Townsley, who is a leader in the Prairie Ready work, said the goal is to provide ”meaningful experiences for our students.“

Student interns in the department will be making basic computer repairs, which will free up full-time technicians time for other things, Townsley said. In turn, students also will get training in information technology and have something to put on their resume.

“What we really look for is are they dependable, on time, do they have an ability to learn and communicate how they want to learn and what it means to them for their future,” Townsley said.

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