Internship gives students real-world job experience
Posted: August 9, 2022
This summer, three Newport News Public School students worked hard in the heat to beautify ten school campuses.
Crew members were enrollees in a course called Work Experience II. They aided the school system's Plant Services department and served as paid interns spreading mulch in flowerbeds.
These student workers applied at the NNPS Human Resources offices and were processed as employees, following the same steps other employees complete, including fingerprinting and completing real job applications.
Plant Services supplied the mulch and a crew cab truck to transport the student workers, their teacher, and an instructional assistant to each worksite. The team started work early each day to get ahead of summer heat as they unloaded and spread the mulch.
Through this work-based learning experience, the interns learned about the world of work and, through hands-on real-world work experiences, gained valuable skills for future employment while accomplishing work tasks provided by Plant Services.
Kim Keith, their teacher, drove a dump truck to pick up and deliver the mulch, and instructional assistant Debbie Marfa transported the student workers in the crew cab. Both Ms. Keith and Ms. Marfa worked side by side with the students and gave the team compassionate supervision as they taught them the protocols of work life.
Vivian Vitullo, special education supervisor for NNPS, said, "This program gave these students a taste of real work life and adulthood. We hope to offer more experiences like this in the future."
See this crew and their good work on Facebook.