By Kelby Booth ’23

As the school year winds down, students are furiously studying and taking final exams. However, the senior class gets to participate in an internship in lieu of finals. Students may explore any field of personal interest. This year, Gunston seniors have chosen to intern at law firms, school, court houses, summer camps, physical therapy offices, NASA, and many more exciting places. 

Law/ Law Enforcement

Julia McClary is interning at the Kent County Circuit Court. During the internship, Julia is watching trials, hearings, and other court proceedings in criminal and civil cases. Julia is also analyzing data for Kent County’s truancy database. She added, “my favorite part has definitely been watching and learning about the courtroom, and getting to sit in and see first hand how it operates.”

Oliver White is interning at MacLeod Law Group LLC in Chestertown, Md. At the law firm, Oliver is proofreading and redlining legal documents for the companies regarding environmental legislation. The focus of the internship is the Conowingo Dam which is a large hydroelectric dam in the lower Susquehanna River. Oliver added “I'm collecting these documents for later use by the firm for their argument on the Dam's lack of safety and the dangers it poses to the Chesapeake.” 

Nathan Porter is interning with the Chestertown Police Department, learning about the differences between state, county, and town enforcement. Nathan is also participating in ride alongs with the Chestertown police officers. “My favorite activity so far was raiding someone’s house with the SWAT team,” Nathan added. 

Healthcare

Aidan Trautman is interning at Key Physical Therapy in Stevensville, Md., working as a technician helping patients with exercises, stretches, and other activities. His favorite part is learning “how to properly assist patients in their physical therapy,” and gaining perspective of what a career in physical therapy looks like.

Childcare & Education

MacKenzie Smith is working at the Kent School in Chestertown, Md. with Mrs. Amanda Mickie, a 7th and 8th grade language arts teacher. MacKenzie is learning about classroom and behavior management by giving individual assistance to students on their end-of-the-year projects. “It has solidified my passion for teaching even more,” MacKenzie commented, adding, “my favorite part is creating connections with the teachers here who have given me a multitude of advice and guidance throughout this week.” Head of School Nancy Mugele dded that “MacKenzie is amazing. We are not letting her go!”

Cèline Denat and Jennie LeTorre are interning at Stepping Stones in Stevensville, Md. At Stepping Stones, Cèline and Jennie are feeding, entertaining, and teaching kids ages 2-5. During the internship they are learning “how different each age group is and how to interact with different children.” Cèline added that her favorite part of the internship is “how loving the kids are, they barely know me and they love me already!” Jennie’s biggest takeaway was “learning to calm the children down,” but her favorite part is definitely “snuggling with the babies!”

Communications

Isabelle Wagner is volunteering at the Chestertown Cat Colloquium where she not only gets to play with cats all day, she also helps with advertisements and communications. This includes posting daily on their instagram page, and editing an article for the Kent County News. Isabelle commented “I really like that I get to enjoy the company of cats while also learning how to edit articles and create Instagram posts!”

McKinsey Brown is interning at Hope Boutique in Chester, Md. At Hope Boutique, McKinsey is learning how to run a business and learning about online operations. In addition, she is helping around the shop with folding and stocking, as well as taking pictures for their Instagram account.

Technology/ Engineering

Nick Abell is interning at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Electromagnetic Interference Prototype Laboratory. Nick is learning about the importance of shielding wires while also constructing a Line Impedance Stabilization Network (LISN). The LISN will be used in an upcoming electromagnetic interference test on the Mars return mission technology. 

Autumn Watson is interning at Agence France-Presse (AFP) in  their information technology (IT) department. AFP is a leading global news agency with 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, covering the world in six languages, with a unique quality of multimedia storytelling spanning video, text, photos and graphics. At AFP, Autumn is fixing computers and other electrical issues for the AFP employees at the new agency in Washington, D.C. Autumn was also offered the opportunity to tour the oval office!

Biology

Eli Ireland is shadowing microbiologist who work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NOAA Cooperative Oxford Laboratory. She is studying viruses carried by fish and took bacteria samples from wild rainbow trout. Eli added “we looked at their gills under a microscope to find any live bacteria. I also witnessed a baby dolphin necropsy (basically an autopsy but for an animal).” This week Eli is studying flesh eating bacteria that lives in the Chesapeake Bay. 

Liam Thomas is interning at Eco-Adventures in Millersville, Md., which provides a variety of hands-on conservation programs in hopes to inspire young conservationists. Part of their mission includes housing many rescued and misplaced animals. Eco Adventures houses over 100 native and exotic animals on display and as animal ambassadors. For his internship, Liam helps take care of the animals needs like food, water, and cleaning enclosures and is learning how to properly take care of different species of animals.

Art

Kate Kroncke is interning at Gunston with Ms Windmiller in the Fine Art Department. Kate is helping out with summer cleaning and organization; scraping paint, organizing brushes, and testing old markers. Throughout the week, students also received advice from Kate on shading and how to make a piece look realistic with tiny details. Ms. Windmiller added “I think the students appreciate her perspective.” Kate's favorite part was “assisting Ms. Windmiller with grading freshman projects and learning how to grade with a rubric.”

Brielle Tyler is interning at the Chesapeake Music at the Ebenezer Theater in Easton. At the theater, Brielle is assisting the rehearsals for the Chesapeake Chamber Music festival which will take place from June 9-17. Brielle really enjoys “learning more about the job of music administration.” Here is the link to grab your tickets for the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival https://chesapeakemusic.org/chesapeake-chamber/.

Hospitality

Paige Kroncke is interning at the Inn Hotel Spa on Kent Island. At the Spa, Paige ensures all guests are comfortable and supplied with towels, shoes, and a personal locker. Paige also cleans the spa and is a receptionist. Special guest Wes Moore, the Governor of Maryland, visited the spa last weekend and Paige had to redirect foot traffic in order to insure Governor Moore’s privacy.