Written By WorkWell Senior Intern Moriah Olson
The WorkWell job program is not your average summer job – it’s an intentionally facilitated experience where high school employees get the chance to learn within a variety of disciplines and receive daily feedback from mentors and supervisors. This is the 7th year of the WorkWell program, and this year they employed over 80 youth. The High School Internship program has been a part of WorkWell for the last 3 years, this year being particularly special as the Senior Internship opportunity was added. The Senior Internship program offers seniors a chance to explore their interests and gain career knowledge through shadowing and interviews with professionals from different fields. These five interns: Esther B., Kassia B., Breah M., Victory I., and Anaya C. returned to WorkWell this summer for either their third or fourth year to join the High School Internship program. The WorkWell Media Team interviewed each of them on the experience they have had through WorkWell and how the program has left a positive impact on their lives.
Breah works as a counselor for Camp Skillz. She has a gift for working with kids and maintaining an optimistic and energetic environment for them. One of her campers said, “Ms. Breah is super fun and tries to make everyone happy. She encourages us to get out of our comfort zone and participate in the activities.” She leaves a positive impact on her campers. Breah has been a part of WorkWell for the last two summers, and she shared that WorkWell has helped her “better understand what I want to do as my career when I’m older. Getting to work around kids is something that I want to pursue, specifically in the medical field.” Breah has grown over the last two years, going from never having worked with kids to being confident in organizing and directing her campers. She has the ability to step outside her comfort zone to do what’s necessary to make sure the kids experience something worthwhile. The gifts she brings to those kids are valuable.
Kassia has been a valuable participant in the WorkWell program for the last two summers as a Camp Skillz counselor. She sets a positive example for her campers, making sure they are focused and having a great time. She said “Workwell has provided me with many opportunities such as resume building, college prep, and even good relationships with my co-workers. I don't think I could have gotten this anywhere else.” Kassia hopes to pursue a career in law, and WorkWell was able to set up an interview with Nashville Law School graduate Lavinia Becker, to allow her to ask questions and hear from a professional. She said “This opportunity was enlightening and relieving because she answered a lot of questions on things I wasn’t sure about. I thought that I had to choose what kind of attorney I had to be before law school but she taught me that I will learn about all of them and get to choose after. I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with her.”
Victory is a hard worker and it is evident through the way she gives all of her energy to make sure her campers have a blast at Camp Skillz. Victory has been participating in WorkWell for the last two years. Victory told us “Working with Camp Skillz is a fulfilling experience of pouring into kids' lives. Seeing the way they change and grow week after week is awesome.” Victory has grown so much in her leadership skills by gaining more responsibility as she has gotten older. This year Victory was put in charge of leading a group of kids which required skills such as planning, organization, and compassion. She is excited to take the skills that she has learned through WorkWell into her future career, either in engineering or working in healthcare. She is so thankful for Mr. Gerron and the impact he has had on her work experience, pushing her to give all of herself to the kids she is serving.
Esther has been a part of WorkWell for the last three years. Her commitment to her team and the love she has for them is evident. Esther said, “I love the environment WorkWell maintains and the people I get to work with especially. I think that Workwell chooses good employees so I appreciate my co-workers. It's wonderful to be around people who are hard workers and people who are just good friends.” Esther's hope is to become a teacher in both biblical education and healthcare. She is thankful for the opportunity to facilitate activities for Camp Skillz because she sees the benefit it will have on her career. Through camp, she gets to practice her public speaking skills, specifically communicating lessons, which is excellent practice for her future.
Anaya is a hard-working employee. She has been a faithful participant of WorkWell for 4 summers, and anyone who knew Anaya her first year and knows her now can testify to the growth that has taken place in her. She told us, “When I first started with WorkWell, Mr. Gerron was my supervisor. At first, I was timid, but with my role as a facilitator I had to learn how to lead things on my own, and Mr. Gerron pushed me to do so. There was one day Mr. Gerron put me on a water day game by myself and I didn’t think I could do it, but if he had not pushed me in that moment I would not have done it and learned from the experience.” Anaya is a strong member of our WorkWell team and has given herself summer after summer to love and serve the kids at Camp Skillz.