AHS LINK Internship Program
The LINK (Leading Internships for New Knowledge) program gives AHS juniors a chance to explore the adult world and potential careers in a field they may be interested in. During a three-week long period, AHS juniors are expected to intern with a mentor at a local or out of state business and fulfill a minimum of 90 hours within this internship. This gives students the chance to connect their learning experiences with the adult world in order to gain more knowledge and get ready for life after high school.
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About Park Elementary
Park Elementary is an Elementary school in Durango, CO that approaches the education curriculum in a standard way and connect learning experiences to real-world issues. The classrooms come to life with critical-thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, etc. The students take ownership in their learning while keeping a culture of respect, responsibility, courage, and kindness. Students and staff embrace the power of student-engaged assignments as well as frequent assessments in order to help them achieve their academic goals.
Stephanie Trudeaux is Park Elementary's school counselor. She attended Fort Lewis College where she earned her degree in psychology and got an Elementary certificate. She then attended Adams State and received a Masters degree in counseling. Stephanie states "The most rewarding aspect of being a counselor is that it allows me to give back and make a meaningful contribution to society."
Stephanie Trudeaux is Park Elementary's school counselor. She attended Fort Lewis College where she earned her degree in psychology and got an Elementary certificate. She then attended Adams State and received a Masters degree in counseling. Stephanie states "The most rewarding aspect of being a counselor is that it allows me to give back and make a meaningful contribution to society."
LINK Internship Project
For my LINK project, I completed a "Yearly Behavioral Data Spreadsheet" which shows the staff members at Park the amount of students in each grade who have received a refocus form. The reasoning for the data is so that Stephanie Trudeaux can assess the ongoing behavior, meet with the student, and create a plan with that student on how to better that behavior and decrease the amount of refocus forms received.
Since the "Yearly Behavioral Data Spreadsheet" is confidential and cannot be shared, I decided to take the data and create a spreadsheet including only numbered data and examples of how the data is set up. I also took it upon myself to create a photo collage of everything I saw/did on my LINK internship.
Since the "Yearly Behavioral Data Spreadsheet" is confidential and cannot be shared, I decided to take the data and create a spreadsheet including only numbered data and examples of how the data is set up. I also took it upon myself to create a photo collage of everything I saw/did on my LINK internship.
LINK Reflection
Going into LINK, I had some experience taking care of children such as my job at Gametime and past babysitting jobs. However, I didn’t know much about the academic side of working with children. During this experience, I developed new skills such as how to work better 1:1 with students, how different styles of teaching can affect children differently, and how to efficiently contribute solutions to conflicts within the Elementary school. I think that the most important thing I learned from this internship was that I am indeed really passionate about this career choice and that this is definitely the right path for me. Growing up, I never would've thought I would want to be a teacher in a million years. I was one of those students who has always "hated" school and I feel that was mostly because I had so many teachers that showed up looking like they hated their jobs. Working with the children at Gametime and moving into this internship position has changed my mind, opened my eyes and reintroduced me to the world of imagination. Starting over at Animas High School in 2021 has been so rewarding, as it has shown me you can be silly, excited, and passionate about your job. "The world's a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets." - Zooey Deschanel. A big part of my life philosophy is doing what you love because the way I see it, if you're not doing what you love, then what the hell are you doing? Being around these wide-eyed, excited, tiny humans is what I love and I want to continue loving. I really enjoyed working with these young students and I am very passionate about going into and studying the field of primary education.
I believe that I was an important part of the organization because I was told by many staff members that I was a big help and they were glad to have me. I was working 1:1 with students who needed that extra help and helping out with assignments and tasks as needed. Karen Morris, my former third grade teacher, wrote a letter to me expressing her gratitude. “It was quite a pleasure having Abby Hoff join our third grade crew as an educational intern these past weeks. Her presence brightened our days and provided a positive addition to our learning activities. She brought delightful enthusiasm to our math, social studies, and reading lessons. She also showed great initiative to help me with many classroom jobs. She confidently worked with students independently and in small groups and built relationships easily. The students learned fun strategies from her and they really enjoyed her company. I truly appreciated her assistance and her passion for learning. I believe that Abby will be a valuable asset to the educational profession in the future.” Looking forward into my future, this experience has been life changing and has set me up for success. The next steps for me include learning experiences to better my skills at Gametime, finding a college with a good education program, and continuing to be passionate about shaping future generations.
I believe that I was an important part of the organization because I was told by many staff members that I was a big help and they were glad to have me. I was working 1:1 with students who needed that extra help and helping out with assignments and tasks as needed. Karen Morris, my former third grade teacher, wrote a letter to me expressing her gratitude. “It was quite a pleasure having Abby Hoff join our third grade crew as an educational intern these past weeks. Her presence brightened our days and provided a positive addition to our learning activities. She brought delightful enthusiasm to our math, social studies, and reading lessons. She also showed great initiative to help me with many classroom jobs. She confidently worked with students independently and in small groups and built relationships easily. The students learned fun strategies from her and they really enjoyed her company. I truly appreciated her assistance and her passion for learning. I believe that Abby will be a valuable asset to the educational profession in the future.” Looking forward into my future, this experience has been life changing and has set me up for success. The next steps for me include learning experiences to better my skills at Gametime, finding a college with a good education program, and continuing to be passionate about shaping future generations.