By Amy Bounds
Daily Camera
BOULDER, Colo. 鈥� Sam Goldstein and William Ferrie are seniors at Lafayette鈥檚 Centaurus High, but they aren鈥檛 spending their last semester at the school.
Instead, they鈥檙e taking an EMT class at Front Range Community College and interning with the Lafayette Fire Department.
And while they鈥檒l walk with their classmates at graduation, they鈥檒l remain Boulder Valley students for an extra year to take advantage of a free year of Front Range Community College as part of the state鈥檚 ASCENT 鈥� Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment 鈥� program.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 working toward something instead of just waiting to be done,鈥� Goldstein said.
They鈥檙e among nine Boulder Valley high school students participating in an internship pilot program this semester. For the pilot, students receive high school credit by completing 100 hours for their internship, plus online classwork that includes weekly journal reflections and a final presentation.
Boulder Valley wants to engage more students in similar opportunities as part of its Grad Plus initiative, which includes providing students with work-based learning experiences that range from guest speakers to job shadows to internships.
鈥淭he key is that connection to industry and helping students answer that question of 鈥榳hy am I in school,鈥� 鈥� said Jody Bennett, Boulder Valley鈥檚 work-based learning coordinator.
Her work includes recruiting industry partners and making sure the internships are a positive experience for them, as well as finding ways to make the work-based learning happening at individual schools more systemic and organized.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in its infancy stage now,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will, over time, become a staple in our district. It鈥檚 really exciting. We know it鈥檚 going to be amazing.鈥�
At the elementary level, Boulder鈥檚 Flatirons Elementary created a 鈥淒are to Dream鈥� week in November that went so well, the district is encouraging other elementary schools to replicate it.
The week started with an assembly, followed by daily activities that included creating 鈥渄ream clouds,鈥� taking interest inventories and hearing from community members and parents about their careers. Flatirons Principal Jessica Seevers said the goal was helping students connect their interests and talents to possible jobs.
鈥淚鈥檝e just seen kids light up in a different way,鈥� she said.
Following up on the week, fifth graders took a field trip to the Boulder Technical Education Center to explore the programs based on their interest areas. The school also is hosting monthly guest speakers, including 鈥減izza with a professional鈥� for a talk by park rangers and 鈥渃ookie and career鈥� for a talk by an HVAC professional.
鈥淜ids are interested and curious at this age; sometimes educational systems smother that,鈥� Seevers said. 鈥淲e are trying to get kids and staff to stay excited about teaching and learning. It has been so engaging for my community.鈥�
At the middle schools, the district is focusing on exploring career options through activities like field trips and panels of industry experts. A new software program also will help students match their interest with school district opportunities.
鈥淲e want to have the community be a louder voice in our classrooms,鈥� Bennett said.
For the high school internship pilot, Fairview High Grad Plus lead Vanessa Carroll is working with a student this semester who is interning at an artificial intelligence company. Last semester, she worked with a student intern working with the Sunrise Movement climate change lobbying group and a second helping promote bands.
鈥淏efore this year, we really didn鈥檛 have any way for a kid to do an internship and get academic credit for it,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to make education really innovative.鈥�
While students in the pilot completed coursework online on their own time, it will be a formal class next school year at Fairview that they鈥檒l attend during the school day. The teacher can help students find internship opportunities and provide support.
鈥淭he kids will have a community where they can share their experiences with each other,鈥� Carroll said.
Goldstein and Ferrie at Centaurus were ahead in high school credits when they were offered the internship with the Lafayette Fire Department. It鈥檚 the first high school internship offered by the department.
鈥淲hen somebody suggested an internship, we were all over it,鈥� Goldstein said.
Each works with a mentor and is assigned specific shifts. They go on calls, help out at the station and attend training sessions, including one on ice rescues at Baseline Reservoir and another on roof extractions.
鈥淭here are a lot of steps to a lot of the procedures,鈥� Goldstein said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very cool.鈥�
Ferrie said he was initially a little nervous about interning at a fire station, but described the mentors as 鈥渁mazing鈥� and the other firefighters as always willing to help and answer questions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really nice way to see the environment they live in and the schedule and the routine,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can see it from different perspectives. There are so many different jobs in the emergency medical services field. The more experience we can get, the better.鈥�
High school students also are participating this school year in industry-sponsored projects in computer science at Boulder , Broomfield , Fairview and Monarch high schools. And career and technical education teachers are adding work-based learning experiences after participating in a study group tasked with developing more options.
Kristie Evans , a biomedical sciences teacher at the Boulder Technical Education Center , switched this year from a research-based capstone project to a work-based learning project in her senior level Biomedical Innovations class.
Most of the 13 students were able to find a job shadow opportunity that would add up to 30 hours. The rest made a one-time visit to learn about robotic assisted surgery at Intermountain Healthcare in Lafayette , then interviewed medical professionals to complete the rest of the hours.
As the job shadows continue in future years, Evans is looking to develop more connections with industry partners to make it easier for students without their own medical field connections to find opportunities.
Students attend their job shadows once or twice a week, skipping class and completing work they miss at home. They complete weekly reports on their experiences and will give video or in-person presentations at the end of May.
鈥淭he joy and the knowledge they鈥檙e garnering is beautiful to witness,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what they鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Biomedical Innovations student Ava Murray-Swank , a Fairview senior interested in pediatric medicine, scored an opportunity to shadow a nurse at Rose Medical Center who works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 get to do a lot of hands-on work there. It鈥檚 definitely a dream come true.鈥�
She added that she鈥檚 鈥渟uper grateful鈥� for the opportunity to gain real experience in a potential career before college.
鈥淭he college process is so hard,鈥� she said. 鈥淕etting to focus on the field that we love in high school is just a really great opportunity.鈥�
Phoebe Maierhofer , a senior at Centaurus whose passion for medicine started with a middle school biology class, shadowed three orthopedic surgeons at Boulder Medical Center this semester.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy how much I have learned in the past month,鈥� Maierhofer said. 鈥淪eeing what I learned in class translated into real-life cases and real-life patients has been really eye opening. It just fueled my passion for medicine and made me even more excited for my future.鈥�
Classmate Noah Bodner , a senior at Boulder鈥檚 Fairview High , connected with an orthopedic surgeon through a family friend who works at the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 Sports Medicine Center. He is now planning to attend CU Boulder and major in integrative physiology on a pre-med track.
As an intern, Bodner has shadowed the surgeon and his team during surgery and at the clinic.
鈥淚 wanted to get a head start,鈥� Bodner said. 鈥淚 can get my feet wet in the field during high school, so I can experience some things to learn what I want to do and what I don鈥檛 want to do. It has been a great experience.鈥�
He wasn鈥檛 considering surgery as a possible career before, but the internship 鈥渉as definitely opened my eyes to what it could be.鈥�
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