A School Students Intern in the Work World

Remy Weinberg at Second EditionThe Alternative School at Scarsdale High School provides students chosen by lottery with opportunities for community based learning. Weekly community meetings, core group meetings and special events like “Hallowanksgiving” and “Outing” all bring the students together to form tight bonds between the students and the teachers. Students have opportunities for leadership positions planning A School events. The students are encouraged to take initiative in their education by contributing new ideas for the SAS academic classes and outside of school activities. 

The January  Internship Program at the A School is just one opportunity for students to immerse themselves in real world jobs while gaining new valuable experiences. SAS students: Samantha Schneider, Henry Sperling, Monica Afran, Laura Chestnut, and Seka Slivjnofksi are all doing internships this month as they balance their work life with their school life.

 Here is what they are up to:

Sophomore Samantha Schneider is working with kindergartners at the Kids Base Program at the Little School in Scarsdale. For two and a half hours after school everyday, Samantha helps supervise the children, making sure they are staying safe and happy. She says she loves “working with the kindergartners and doing activities with them”. Having this internship is helping Samatha learn how to control and accommodate young children which can help her in the future if she wants to pursue a job in education. Samantha said that sometimes the balance between internship and school can be difficult but “not having classes with the A school for this month of January has made it less overwhelming”.  Overall, Samantha has been having a great time and she has really enjoyed working with the kids.

Henry Sperling, a sophomore at the A School, has been interning with the real estate company FTERE. Usually, Henry does the company’s paperwork such as sorting through their leases. He has traveled to the Bronx with his sponsor to meet with tenants and discuss their needs.. Henry thinks that his internship has been a “great experience” and he really likes the ability to choose his hours because it helps him to manage his school schedule.

Senior Monica Afran is interning  high school psychologist, Micole Horowitz. They visit special education classes at the elementary school. The students in these classes have a range of learning disabilities and they benefit from classes with a smaller student to teacher ratio. Monica has been spending most of her time in Jenna Mazzillo’s 8-1-2 class at Edgewood Elementary School. She helps teach the kids how to express themselves and learn language skills. She says, “My internship requires a lot of time spent driving, which can be difficult at times but as long as I stick to my schedule’s hours, it's no problem at all!”

Sophomore Laura Chestnut is working at the Pamplemousse Project Cafe in White Plains. Laura's job is to research cafe competitors and their products so she can compare them to offerings at the Pamplemousse Project. Her goal is to get inspiration on what goods and food to sell so that the company can become more successful. Laura works electronically at home so during her free time she will log onto her computer and get to work. Laura is learning research skills that she hopes to use down the line.

Sophomore Seka Slivjanovski interns both online and in person for the brand, Babo Botanicals. Some days she works at her sponsors home in Connecticut where she assists with research and upcoming projects. Seka recently worked on powerpoint presentation for a warehouse that Babo Botanicals is building. She also helped create the company's holiday makeup gift set. When Seka works online she attends zoom calls where she and the company's team do research on what ingredients are beneficial for the skin and how they should be included in the new skincare line. Her job in the office is hard sometimes but she says she loves the fact that she leaves her concerns at the office. 

Remy Weinberg, a sophomore at the A School has been working at the vintage clothing store Second Edition in the Scarsdale Village. Remy has always been interested in clothing and styling outfits so she was really excited to have this job.. Remy promotes the business by posting different outfits on the company’s instagram story and displaying the store's new items. Sometimes she will assist customers by giving them advice on what to buy and what clothing items will look good together. Remy thinks the balance between school and her internship is pretty good because she is “always looking forward to her internship because it's very fun”. Remy goes into the store anytime she has free time during her day at school.

The internship program at the Alternative School gives students great opportunities to explore their interests and learn valuable skills in the work world. Response from all the students we contacted has been overwhelmingly positive.

Juliette Gross is a sophomore at the A School. She enjoys dancing and loves to read! The A School means a lot to her so she enjoys educating others about it.