"These are professional internships in an industry that typically does not even consider offering internships to high school students, and often not until after their sophomore year in college. These students have the potential to graduate college with both a degree and several years of experience.”
Many Francis Tuttle students land internships and other work-based learning activities that connect them directly to their industry. Organizations that will, currently have or in the past year have had Francis Tuttle students on board include OG&E, Boeing, Oklahoma City Police Department, and Oklahoma Proton Center, among many others.
Computer Science Academy high school students Chase Cone and Tyler Bass will intern with OG&E this summer in computer science and cybersecurity.
"We really can’t over-emphasize what a big deal this is for our students, and how unique it is," Academy instructor Andy Harbert said. "These are professional internships in an industry that typically does not even consider offering internships to high school students, and often not until after their sophomore year in college. These students have the potential to graduate college with both a degree and several years of experience."
Computer Science student Ryan Meyer will be interning with Rapid App Werks, where he will primarily work in software development, testing for and fixing bugs.
“This internship offers a really good entry point into the computer science field," Meyer said.
Also interning with OG&E are Advanced Manufacturing high school students Ethan Mellies, Anthony Hudspeth, and Trinity Neller, as well as adult student Todd Jardot. Advanced Manufacturing classmate Jayawn Wilson interned with OG&E last summer and has been working for them while completing his program this year.
Adult Advanced Manufacturing student Mitchell Lee was selected to intern with Boeing at their plant in Seattle, along with Deer Creek senior Turner LaValle.
“This is a really great opportunity for what I want to do in mechatronics,” LaValle said, referencing part of his training in the Advanced Manufacturing program.
He will attend Oklahoma State University in the fall to pursue an electrical engineering degree.
Four Criminal Justice students who will graduate in May have been accepted into the Oklahoma City Police Department Cadet program. Jay Judd, Aaron Fleming, Kadence Benedict, and Thomas Newby will participate in training over the next few years, exposing them to the realities of police work, and will have preference to start as officers when they’re old enough to apply.
In preparation for future careers in medicine and healthcare, many BioSciences and Medicine Academy students partnered with industry professionals to perform work-study research throughout the school year. Others have sought summer internships or other work-based learning opportunities, as well. These students and their respective organizations and mentors include:
- Olivia Seo (University of Central Oklahoma, with Hari Kotturi, Ph.D.)
- Behrod Babak (University of Central Oklahoma, with Vickie Jean, Ph.D.)
- Nika Moumenzadeh (University of Central Oklahoma, with Melville Vaughan Ph.D.)
- Zaynab Na-Allah (University of Central Oklahoma, with Christopher Goodchild, Ph. D.)
- Lauren Vongthavaravat (University of Central Oklahoma, with Melville B. Vaughan, Ph.D., and Dariana Hashemi)
- Abigael Frank (Oklahoma Proton Center, with Tracy Reece, Ryan Crawford, and Jenny Washington)
- Norah Hager (The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, with Kamille Pitts and Dongfeng Qu)
- Austin Liu (City of Edmond, with Councilwoman Christy Batterson)
- Chloe Stout (Integris Edmond’s Arcadia Trails Rehabilitation Center, with Travis Ernst, LMFT, LADC, Director of Clinical Services)
- Joshua Tu and Joshua Yoon (Oklahoma State University, with Haejun Park, Ph. D.)
These students represent only a handful who have worked hard and earned entry positions to prepare for the workforce. Francis Tuttle encourages students to pursue work-based learning opportunities, both during the school year and their summer breaks.