The Accidental Internship

When I received an email from Nate Brady at The Walker School in early 2020, we talked about what a high school internship at Win-Tech would look like. I had grandiose ideas about Quality System Manual improvements and statistical research engaging engineering shop floor non-conformances.

Then, March 16, 2020 hit, and any pie-in-the-sky idea flew out the window.

Win-Tech is an essential business and we took the pandemic very seriously from the start. This included limiting visitors to those absolutely necessary to the business. Unfortunately, interns did not qualify as "business essential."

In April, I was dreading reaching out to Nate to cancel the internship with his two high school students. Everyone was feeling the impacts of COVID-19, especially teachers and students. I hated adding to the stress and knew Nate was dealing with a lot of unknowns.

But the world has a funny way of working.

The same afternoon that I sat down to email Nate, I received an email from Brad Smith at Mount Paran High School. Win-Tech has a great relationship with Brad and the students on the MPHS Eagle Robotics team, we have sponsored them in the past few years and they had just had their own World Championships canceled.

Brad wanted to know if Win-Tech was taking any interns on.

Ugh. Now I was going to have to write TWO "I'm sorry we can't help you" letters.

Then it hit me: Everyone else was going virtual.

Why couldn't I?

Why not make this internship experience virtual?

...And if I make it virtual for Nate's students, why couldn't I include Brad's students?

...And other students?

So, I emailed Brad and Nate and excitedly told them that I had come up with the Advanced Manufacturing Virtual Internship. I remember typing quickly as if I had to get it out before I changed my mind or someone told me it couldn't be done. Say yes now. Figure it out later.

I immediately went home after work and spent the next 8 hours in front of my computer, coming up with a curriculum and a vision for what the program would entail.

Say yes now.  Figure it out later.

Less than two weeks later, I had a website, criteria for participation, and an internship application.

Less than two weeks after that, I had 12 rising high school seniors from 4 different local high schools signed up, ready to go. The students spanned the spectrum - some had taken physics classes and been engaged in STEM activities, others are active in their school's robotics teams, and others envisioned themselves one day becoming an engineer.

After even more research and conversations with subject matter experts, I had my mom, Donna Krache, a seasoned writer and education consultant review what I had planned to teach so far. You know - it pays to know someone like that, and I'm not just saying that because she's my mom. (Well, maybe a little.)

The interns and I planned to "meet" on Zoom for 15 days, mid-day for an hour.

Each day was a different concept - from engineering design to risk management to supply chain to marketing... honestly, I could have made the program 365 days and still not covered it all. The intent, though, was to provide students with an insight into many different facets of the industry. I wanted to get them excited about something they hadn't thought of, or add fuel to a passion they already had.

Students made their own systems-map geared towards a goal and we spent one class pretending we owned a manufacturing company and made decisions about all sorts of risks a business owner encounters.

A student-accessible website housed several resources I pulled together to allow students to go down the rabbit hole when they found something of interest. The hour a day was just enough to cover topics from a birds' eye view. If students were intrigued - they could explore using the guidance on the resource page (videos, articles, interactive activities, you name it!). If students were less than interested about a particular topic, they could check the box and move on.

The real value in the program was the group of enthusiastic colleagues that agreed to be a part of the inaugural program.

I reached out to incredible people in the industry and they willingly and happily served as guest speakers, telling their stories, talking about their companies, and answering questions from incredibly bright students. There were people from Manchester, UK and all over the United States: Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and so many other places where manufacturing helps their community operate.

These people are business owners, engineers, service technicians, welders - students knew in advance who was coming to speak so they could be prepared to ask questions and learn more.

Bonus: Every speaker eagerly invited the students to connect with them on LinkedIn.

Not only were these wonderful people all ecstatic to participate, but many asked to be a part of the presentations later in the program, even going as far as to offer to sponsor a gift card to the winners.

YES. So, not only were they devoting time to preparing for the talk, and then getting in front of 12 high school students on Zoom to spend 30-60 minutes with the group, but many asked to come back to devote more time, money, and resources to students they had never met.

You can't buy that curriculum at any school.

To wrap up the program, teachers and parents were invited to call in during the last two days of the fifteen. During these two days, students presented on a topic of their choice. They were asked to research or solve a problem using an engineering or manufacturing concept. Students talked about aerospace innovation, artificial intelligence's use in the supply chain, additive manufacturing, a game plan to create demand for hydrogen-use efficiencies...

My favorite part of the presentations is that every one of them was so uniquely different. Judges, teachers, parents, and peers were able to use the chat function to offer support, comment, and ask questions - the last two days were incredibly engaging as the circle expanded.

We had a few categories where students were scored and winners announced. (We'll have another LinkedIn post to celebrate them!) What better way to highlight your Pandemic Summer as a high school student than to say you engaged in an "Advanced Manufacturing Virtual Internship" and won an award for a project you put your heart and soul into?

I don't know about you, but I'd hire someone like that in a heartbeat.

These students never ceased to amaze me. I could go on and on about their Zoom etiquette and how they could teach professional adults a thing or two, but ultimately, I was impressed with their critical thinking skills. They asked questions that were one step ahead of where you assumed they'd be.

I have been asked by many people: "Are you going to box this idea and sell it?!" and I have answered with hesitation: "I'm not sure yet."

I recently read an article shared on LinkedIn about how we're all so very careful to hold ideas close to the vest, for fear of someone stealing them. This is one of those concepts I now realize that other industry professionals should embrace and offer, too. There's no shortage of students who would benefit and protip? It's not just the students who benefit.

Are you going to box this idea?

The value of the program lies in the people that made it come together.

The teachers, educators, and administrators who connected these students to me: Thank you!

The parents who trusted me with your child: Thank you!

The subject matter experts, judges, sponsors, and speakers, these people I consider my friends: Thank you!

My mom and my husband for being my "AMVI Advisory Board": Thank you!

The students who set the bar VERY high for any that follow: Thank you!

I plan on doing this again in the future, with a few modifications, but realize that there is value in the people and conversations that are shared. There is true meaning for high school students to be offered valuable resources and connections on a silver platter and to be 100% responsible for what they do with that gift.

These young adults are going to do wonderful things and I can't wait to tell the world: "Told you so."

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Allison Giddens is the Director of Operations at Win-Tech, Inc. She is a perpetual learner, with degrees and certifications in Psychology, Criminal Justice, Manufacturing Engineering, Conflict Management, Event Planning, Cybersecurity Risk Management, and Comedy Linguistics.

Interested in speaking at a future AMVI class, want to sponsor a future award, or have a student who may wish to participate? Reach out via AMVI Contact Form here and we'll keep you posted about what's next.