Every day is a new day to capture something amazing at Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy. Telling our students’ unique stories through pictures, videos, and blogs is something our Rowe-Clark social media intern, Makya Stuckey, takes pride on. For her, it’s not only meaningful that she is capturing memories but also developing career skills and earning school credit.

This is all part of Rowe-Clark’s internship program for juniors and seniors – one of many opportunities in our College and Career programs. The Rowe-Clark internship program was created to introduce and integrate professional skill sets into our students’ routines throughout the school day so they are able to gain transferable skills that they can use in their post-secondary and professional endeavors. Throughout the program, students have the opportunity to not only engage in their specific areas of interest but to develop skills in independence, problem solving, effective communication, and self advocacy.

Each student is given options and descriptions of different internship opportunities so they can decide where their interests, talents, and skills would best thrive. The Rowe-Clark College team then interviews the students and works with different partner organizations and colleges to place them in internships that the College team feels would best suit each student and their skillset.

Each week, students are evaluated by the Dean of College as well as their site supervisor (members of the leadership teams/programming at campus) to reflect on the “skill of the week” they learned. Our student interns also reflect each quarter on their overall experience and feedback. At the end of the year, they write a final reflection piece that explains their role and their overall experience with their internship, which allows the College team to create better opportunities and programs for the following year.

Makya, a senior at Rowe-Clark, started her social media internship as a junior and continued with it this year. She says she was always interested in creating social media content and she has loved creating amazing content about Rowe-Clark through her unique lens as a student. She has also appreciated the opportunity to gain skills that relate to her interests in entrepreneurship and business management.

“My time as an intern has been nothing short of amazing. Throughout the 2 years, I have developed an array of skills, including data entry, customer service, and marketing/advertising,” Makya said.

Makya working with Principal Miracle Moss to create a post for Rowe-Clark’s social media.

In addition to her time spent curating social media content, she also works in the school’s main office to greet and assist students and parents. Makya says her experiences working in the office have helped her develop interpersonal communication skills that she didn’t have before.

“I was held responsible for ensuring students and families received the right information, as well as a warm welcome. This was something I lacked as I did not like to speak to others,” Makya said. She recalled a particularly impactful experience when a parent who was frustrated with paperwork walked into the office.

“The moment I greeted them with a smile and a ‘How are you?’, the energy changed. It allowed us to get the documents handled and trust was established. All of it was because of my interpersonal communication—something I will need if I want to own my own business one day,” Makya said.

Makya was honored with the position of Rowe-Clark brand ambassador because of her service in the office and on social media. With her internship and this new role, she’s continuing to improve her interpersonal communication skills even more and getting the chance to network with Noble staff, students, and families.

“This opportunity is something I will cherish for a lifetime,” Makya said.

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