GHS Career Counselor Stefany Montgomery Talks About Great Opportunities at the School

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Geneva High School's career counselor Stefany Montgomery recently, talking with her about the unique opportunities she provides for students. Here's what she had to say:

AH: Hi, Mrs. Montgomery, how's your first year as GHS's career counselor going?

SM: It's going great, I am amazed at the quality of students that GHS has. It's fun learning about all the wonderful opportunities GHS provides.

AH: Can you talk a little bit about what you do here at GHS?

SM: I manage the career center and some of the activities we do here include: attending career fairs, maintaing a job board, providing job shadows, facilitating career exploration. I also teach the career internship course.

AH: Can you explain what the career internship course is?

SM: It's a class for motivated students with a clear career path or interest. Students are placed off-site in a desired career or profession. They are greatly exposed to and participate in the work environment. Students also earn credit for taking the course.

AH: How do students sign up for the course?

SM: They meet with their counselor to sign up for it. They need two free periods, usually at the end of the day, in their schedule. They should also make an appointment with me.

AH: Can anyone take this course?

SM: You must be a senior in good academic standing.

AH: After a student expresses interest in taking the course, what do they need to do to be accepted?

SM: They need to fill out an application, write an essay, submit a resume, and have three recommendations.

AH: How long does the class last for?

SM: It's one semester long, and it's highly selective with limited enrollment.

AH: Does the student go to the site every day?

SM: The schedule is coordinated between the site and the student.

AH: What are the benefits of taking this class?

SM: Learning about their desired career from the inside, networking with professionls, and the valuable experience in that it helps students understand what is involved with their post secondary training or college.

AH: What are some of the different kinds of internships are your students involved in?

SM: Right now we have a variety of internship experiences going on from physical therapy, to civil engineering, to sound engineering, to journalism, to veterinary care. Those are just a sampling of what we have right now but any careers are welcome. The opportunities are unlimited. Next semester I have a computer programmer, an event planner, a student working in the medical field, and more.

AH: Along with working at the internship site, what else is required for the students taking the course?

SM: They are required to complete 65 on-site hours. They also have to submit a weekly timesheet and weekly journal along with a final project. 

AH: What is the final project?

SM: It's sharing with the class all the great internship experiences they had at their internship.

Feel free to contact Stefany at smontgomery@geneva304.org if you have any questions or conerns.