Students from the Journalism and Communications (J&C) magnet will enter secondary schooling with an upper hand in the Communications field thanks to a new class, Internship. Internship is a course available to students who completed required courses in the J&C magnet. Internship is beneficial to students, letting them apply their knowledge outside of the classrooms and have a feel for the college atmosphere.

The idea for the course was sparked by a few self-motivated students. Julian Wright (12) was one of those students. Wright interned for the WLKY-32 news station. Ms. Liz Palmer (J&C) pushed for this course to become a part of the J&C program and the administration gave the thumbs up for the course in early August. Ms. Palmer’s main concern was how she would approach the class in an evaluative way in order to give the students grades. “Approaching this course I had to find sites willing to work with high school students – those willing to mold these students,” said Palmer

The companies that the Internship students work with are: Credible Courier, Vype Magazine, Louisville Cardinal, InFocus, TNT Productions, Friends School and Art FM. These are a wide range of publications, which cater to the diverse talents that these students have.

Christina Rucinski (11) is a student in the course. With this being a first year course, finding sites that matched exactly what students wanted to work on didn’t come easily. Working with Ms. Palmer, Christina took it upon herself to find a site that fit her likes. She emailed Vype Magazine getting her into an internship spot she loves. She works on online articles, features, and photo captions. “This internship assured me that I want to pursue Communication Studies & Public Relations in college,” said Rucinski.

Tya Maine (12) interns for the Louisville Cardinal, an independent newspaper. She has published stories and live tweeted events that occur in the city. Thanks to the Louisville Cardinal being an independent newspaper, she can unleash her free-spirited, but professional writing style in this publication. Maine said “I feel prepared for college and eager to add this to my resume.”

Unlike other students who will keep their matched internship for both semesters, Tya is in the process of finding another spot due to transportation and schedule conflicts. “I plan to look into Vype Magazine, because it’s closer to my home and I can learn another style of writing,” said Maine.

“This course matches well with the classes required for the Journalism and Communications magnet,” said Palmer. Interning students are matched with these sites according to their individual talents. When matched with a site, Palmer goes with the student to evaluate their interview skills. Those oral communication skills are provided in the Oral Communications and Debate course, which gives students a confident approach to companies willing to work with them.

The course has gotten a lot of recognition throughout the Journalism and Communications magnet. Knowing that you will actually have a class to apply your skills to in the real world makes some students push harder in classes. “I work harder, and remember all the material from class, so I can be prepared to intern my senior year,” said Mia Thompson (9).

School isn’t the only place the Internship course is being recognized. The community recognizes Manual’s Journalism and Communications students. Knowledge of J&C’s hard working students make it easier, for these sites to accept student interns. “The award winning publications, and self motivating students makes the community know our name,” said Palmer