James Campbell High School (JCHS) is currently offering educational opportunities through internships. Students enrolled in the Academy of Public and Human Service (APHS) and are taking the Education pathway, are eligible to learn skills and experience in teaching. People from the APHS share more information about these opportunities.
ValTina Oishi, the lead for APHS said student interns are currently practicing at ‘Ilima Intermediate and Pohakea Elementary. Beforehand, Oishi lectures students on “Teaching as a Profession.” Oishi said, “We talk about code of ethics, and different requirements that us teachers have to do at the start of the school year.”
These internships are an opportunity for students who want firsthand experience in a classroom and for students who are curious about teaching. Oishi said, “I hope the students are able to see that what they learn in class is actually being practiced.” She also hopes that it “helps them see if education is a career that they’re interested in pursuing.”
Normally, internships like this are only available to students in the second level of teaching as a profession. However, this year is different, Oishi said, “Because there are so many mentors (teachers) that ask for students, I’m tapping into my first level class, and some of them get to experience a little bit about the internship earlier.”
Josiah Efron, an APHS student currently enrolled in the internship program was unsure if he would enjoy the experience because he was originally in the Academy of Health Sciences (AHS) . He switched to the APHS because it looked fun and he saw a potential teaching career he would like to pursue. Efron learned about the internship through Oishi, when she was discussing the teacher shortages in the United States and offered this opportunity to students.
The internship involves hands-on learning and observation skills are essential. Efron said, “We go to a classroom and observe how teachers run their classrooms and help out students. For example, a teacher had me watch students do their I-Ready lessons, making sure they were on task. Later during recess, we went on recess duty making sure kids were behaving and not getting hurt.”
The skills and experience Efron learned from this are essential for teaching. Efron says he learned many skills, such as “Learning that you need to be calm and that you have to try and not overwhelm your students by talking too much or being in their personal space.” The hands-on-learning is what really helps Efron learn, but there have also been downsides. Efron said, “It’s been very draining, because of how much talking is involved and the amount of supervision is required for kids.”
There are plans for more opportunities and improvement. Oishi said “I hope to continue internships and I can always improve on the structure. In addition to that, when schools have fairs or different events I hope that our students can go help with that too. Besides just helping in the classroom, doing outside activities is also a part of being a teacher.”
Efron said, “It’s good to learn this stuff early on,” as he plans to pursue a career in education. The amount of communication skills, patience and experience will help Efron as he moves forward in his career and life.
