THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210274
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
For 36 lucky Princess Anne High School students who got to play hooky from school, last Wednesday was a work day.
It was all done with the blessings of their teachers as they gained a firsthand look at the world of work through the seventh annual Internship Day sponsored by the Central Business District Association.
``It gives an introduction to the business world to the students; a brief overview, a brief glimpse, of how business operates, things like dress codes,'' said Pearl Smith, executive director of the business group and originator of the program. ``It also gives the business community an opportunity to help students decide if a certain field is what they want to pursue or not.''
Twenty-seven businesses participated in this year's program, some taking more than one student. Many, Smith explained, had participated in past years. Some students have returned for longer internships or summer employment with firms that they first visited on Internship Day.
The day began at the school with a reception, then a visit to businesses and a chance to speak with employees working in fields in which the students had expressed interest. At 11:30 a.m., they gathered at the Clarion Hotel for the CBDA's monthly luncheon, affording them an opportunity to ``network'' with other business people and hear guest speaker Tom Manos, president of InfiNet, give a guided tour of some of the on-ramps leading to the information superhighway. After the luncheon, they returned to school.
The value of the opportunity was not lost on the participants. Each student queried had a definite vocational goal in mind or at least a field that interested him or her enough to investigate it.
Patience Willingham, 17, a junior, and Katherine Juralbal, 20, a senior, spent the day at the Sentara Health System office on Poplar Hall Drive. Both want to be doctors. Patience plans to be an OB/GYN, Katherine an anesthesiologist. Patience had participated in Internship Day before.
``I want to get an idea what it'd be like to work (in health care),'' explained Patience.
Added Katherine, ``It'll give me an idea of what I want to do. I want to be very clear it's what I want to do for the future.''
Sandra Miller, a spokesperson for Sentara, explained how young people need to know that many opportunities exist in health care aside from doctors and nurses. Sentara has about 10,000 employees performing a variety of jobs.
``But,'' she added, ``if you find you can't stand the sight of blood, then maybe medicine is not for you.''
Miller took the students to visit three Sentara facilities: Sentara Nursing Center in Norfolk, Sentara Village and Sentara Leigh Hospital.
Over at Sprint Cellular's sales office on Southport Circle, freshman Crystal Cooper, 15, was learning about the installation of cellular phones and other aspects of the business, thanks to Valencia Helms. Helms explained that Sprint Cellular employs about 100 workers locally.
``I wanted to see if this is really the field I want to be in,'' noted Crystal. ``I had hoped to be a lawyer, but this field - sales - has everything I want. They had me in collections, customer care. . . . It's fun!''
The concept of introducing students to business began when the CBDA hooked up with Princess Anne High School as part of the Adopt a School program. Tom Gustafson, coordinator at Princess Anne for the Special Education Facility and the Princess Anne Center, was the original Adopt a School coordinator.
``I think it's a tremendous learning experience for students and businesses,'' he said. ``Business is going to have to come in and help students. This gives the students a chance to see the real world.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Patience Willingham, 17, left, a junior at Princess Anne High, and
Katherine Juralbal, 20, a senior, spent Internship Day at Sentara
Health System. Appropriately, both want to be doctors.
Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Crystal Cooper, 15, a freshman at Princess Anne High, spent the day
learning all about cellular phones at Sprint Cellular Sales. The
company employs about 100 workers locally, including L'Tanya
Johnson, right.
by CNB