In the latest edition of “Let’s Talk Portland,”
Portand Public Schools students tell Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk how
their experiences with job shadowing and internships have benefited
them. “Let’s Talk Portland” is a video series in which Caulk interviews
guests about initiatives in the Portland Public Schools.
“A job
shadow or internship really complements what you’re learning in the
classroom,” Mohamed Nur, a senior at Deering High School, told Caulk.
Nur recently had an internship with Maine Sen. Angus King's field office
in Scarborough and completed a job shadow at Maine Medical Center,
following a doctor around for a day.
Moses Small, a junior at
Portland High School who did a job shadow at WCSH TV, Channel 6 and has
accepted an internship at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, said
his experiences have helped prepare him for his career goal of becoming a
broadcast journalist.
“It really taught me what kind of things
you need to be [as a broadcast journalist]. You need to be very driven
or self motivated, and at the same time you need to be a quick thinker
but you also need to be good at planning things,” Small said.
Job
shadowing and internships are two important kinds of Expanded Learning
Opportunities Portland Public Schools students are are engaged in.
Expanded Learning Opportunities, or ELOs for short, are part of a
districtwide initiative focused on student-centered pathway systems that
better meet the needs of our high school students and get them involved
in the community.
Caulk also interviewed Eric Moynihan, a Jobs
for Maine's Graduates Pathways Coordinator at Portland High School, who
coordinates the job shadowing and internship opportunities that local
businesses provide to students. The work he and other Pathways
Coordinators do is funded by a Nellie Mae Foundation grant.
Moynihan
tells Caulk about how businesses and organizations such as Maine
Medical Center, Unum and the Portland Fire Department provide students
with “real-world learning experiences" through job shadows and
internships.
Learn more about job shadowing and internships in the Portland Public Schools by watching “Let’s Talk Portland.”
