The Class of 2004 Shares their Internship Experiences

By Cathy Offen

As our interns are making their way across the stage to obtain their diplomas this week, we thought we would ask them about their internship experiences over the past year. Our students’ internship sites ranged from city school districts, suburban districts, rural districts, Head Start, and BOCES settings.

All of the interns indicated that they obtained an expansive range of experiences in their districts. Aubrey Elmore, who was placed in the North Tonawanda School District, had this to say; “As I look back over the year, I am so pleased with the full range of experiences and opportunities that I have been exposed to.”

The interns who were placed in rural K-12 settings also commented on what well rounded experiences they received. Jessica Powers, who was placed at the Marcus Whitman School District, said, “The K-12 experience has been great. I definitely suggest this type of placement to help you learn what grade level you prefer working with. Overall, I have had a great experience.”

Terri Connelly, who was also at a K-12 setting at the Marion Central School District, said, “I was able to experience the different approaches and techniques of two psychologists working in two buildings.” Emily Hesek, at the Gates-Chili School District, also commented that “Gates has been more than willing to help me have as many
experiences as possible.”

However, not only those in rural K-12 settings found their experiences rewarding and broad. Erica Deming, at the Rochester City School District, said this about her internship placement: “(it is) a challenging population to work with for a lot of reasons- although I
like it!” She remarked that although she did a fair amount of assessment in the city, she also had ample opportunities to get involved in grief counseling and social skills push in groups.

The interns at BOCES settings (Debra Marshall and Amanda Keller) also emphasized that they got to do a great deal of counseling. Amanda said, “I have facilitated group counseling and numerous individual counseling cases.” Our one intern at a Head Start setting, MaryAnne Picone (who wasplaced at both Geneva Head Start and Geneva High School) was involved in running parents groups and play therapy as well.

The internship is the last step for our third year students in preparing themselves to become full-fledged school psychologists. It seems quite apparent that from all of their experiences, the class of 2004 is ready to spread their wings and leave the RIT nest. Congratulations and best of luck to all of our hard working students!