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Alignment Collaborative for Education - ACE

Archives for July 2024

Students Prepare to be Future Healthcare Professionals

The Alignment Collaborative for Education partnering with Northern Kane County Region 110 and Elgin Community College offered paid internship programs in healthcare to 31 students interested in an array of medical professions. Hosting organizations included Advocate Sherman Hospital, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Diamond Physical Therapy, Ortho Illinois, and VNA Healthcare.

Terry Stroh, EFE director for Region 110, describes the summer internship program “as career builders for students with experiences designed based on the future workforce development needs for the region with healthcare jobs expected to have significant growth and advancement opportunities for the next decade. Todd Stirn, serving as the workforce development specialist for Region 110 adds “By participating in this internship, students not only gained valuable insights into the medical field, but they also developed a broad set of skills that are beneficial across multiple career paths in the medical field”. 
 
The partnership with Advocate Sherman began with the pilot of the pharmacy technician program in Summer 2023 providing internship opportunities to ten students. For this summer, Advocate Sherman and Advocate Good Shepherd hospitals offered 15 opportunities for internships as pharmacy technicians while including the license preparation training provided by TalentFirst. Nancy Coleman, Alignment’s executive director, recognizes this robust partnership: “We are most thankful to Advocate Sherman and Advocate Good Shepherd hospitals for opening career doors for these students while still in high school. As a result of programs like the pharmacy technician internship, students can go to work in community pharmacies at age 16 expedited by this internship preparation.” 
 
While the pharmacy technician internship is perfect for those who would like to go into the medical professions in career fields that require knowledge of pharmaceuticals, there are still some students who are unsure of their healthcare concentration. For ten students interested in exploring the healthcare profession, the medical rotation internship program seemed a perfect fit. The interns spent time in ten different areas of Advocate Sherman Hospital helping them to better define their career interests. 
 
Both Diamond Physical Therapy and Ortho Illinois have new internship programs for Summer 2024 supporting the growing interest of students in pursuing the career field of physical therapy assistant offered by Elgin Community College or pursuing their education further to receive the Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Amy Skrabacz, a student from South Elgin High School, describes the internship at Diamond Physical Therapy as the opportunity to get a hands-on feel for the physical therapy profession. “I have taken away what the physical therapy atmosphere looks like in an outpatient setting.” 
 
VNA Healthcare has also joined the partnership with a pilot rotational program in July offering additional opportunities at its clinic in Elgin. On her first day, student intern Gurlin Kaur from Streamwood High School, described her patient experience highlighting the introduction to the patient on-boarding process, the need for a comprehensive patient medical history, and supporting patient vitals to adequately provide the quality care that patients need.
 
Sheree Speakman, executive director of TalentFirst, commended “The private and public partnership between the schools, Northern Kane County Region 110, the local healthcare providers, and Alignment to provide programs like a 40 + 20 model that effectively provides the students a hands-on exploration of the profession while still in high school leading toward more informed decisions as they select their postsecondary field of study”.
 
Alignment and Northern Kane County Region 110 greatly appreciate the investment made by Advocate Sherman, Advocate Good Shepherd, Diamond Physical Therapy, Ortho Illinois, and VNA Healthcare for providing these students their next opportunity as future healthcare professionals.

Article by Imaan Azeem, Alignment Collaborative for Education Intern
Elgin High School

Students Explore the Fields of Architecture, Building Science, Design, Civil Engineering, and Surveying

Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick, Inc., Judson University, and WT Group provided 12 students from school districts U-46, 300 and 301 internship opportunities showcasing their organizations and the work they do in the region. Through these internships, students were exposed to a wide range of specialties within these career fields including civil, environmental, and structural engineering, architecture, interior and exterior design, surveying, drone technology, computer-aided design applications, 3D modeling, bridge and traffic design projects, etc.

These internships offered a backbone of knowledge for those students wanting to pursue a career in the fields of architecture and civil engineering along with various other professions that are essential to that work. Edgardo Perez Maldonado, chair of the Architecture and Interior Design Department at Judson University, states “we are working with simple elements of architecture, teaching our fellows and interns to understand the principles of design.” Not only were students able to learn the key fundamentals of what it is like to pursue degrees in architecture or civil engineering, but they were able to participate in various activities such as simulating different terrains on a sand table, visiting construction sites, utilizing GIS technology, building bridge prototypes, and flying drones. Yandel Garcia, an intern at HLR and student from Larkin High School, is one of the interns who was able to participate in these creative activities. He goes on to share “It was an awesome week with HLR and another week at Judson to include visits to Risepointe and Anguleris.  Both weeks helped merge my goals from what I learned and what I see myself doing in the future.” These were just some of the many things Yandel and his fellow interns experienced during this internship. 

Being on-site and observing these interns learn and execute various activities was very awe-inspiring and demonstrated that the fields of architecture and engineering are much more than just science and math as students incorporated the arts, design, and technology in all aspects of the internship. Natalia Najjar, an intern at WT Group from Bartlett High School, states “I learned a lot more about the specific things done by each professional field helping me have a better idea of which one I want to pursue.” This internship allowed students like Natalia, who are considering careers in the fields of architecture, building construction, design, civil engineering, and surveying to get a glimpse of all those professions and the educational preparation necessary to qualify to work in these high-demand fields.

Thank you to Hampton, Lenzini, and Renwick, Inc., Judson University, and WT Group for providing this comprehensive internship experience for students from Bartlett, Central, Dundee Crown, Hampshire, Jacobs, and Larkin high schools.

Article by Imaan Azeem, Alignment Collaborative for Education Intern, Elgin High School
Video Producer: Addison Tinerella, Alignment Collaborative for Education Intern, South Elgin High School
Video Assistant: Imaan Azeem, Alignment Collaborative for Education Intern, Elgin High School