Sigonella high school student Jade Garth listens as Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Elmore explains job duties during Garth’s internship at the base air traffic control facility. Garth spent about six months interning at the facility. (Rita Anderson / Sigonella H.S.)
It’s not that unusual for students at Naval Air Station Sigonella to tour its various military commands. What is unusual is having the students actually lead the tour.
As part of the final few weeks of the Stephen F. Decatur High School’s first-ever Career Practicum course, a dozen seniors gave their fellow students tours of the offices or commands they’d been working at as interns since early December.
Explaining the operations of the base’s fleet mail center wasn’t too difficult for Jeff Shonk.
“We trained him on everything that a postal clerk would do,” said Chief Petty Officer Anthony Gambles. “He came every other day — this was his class.”
The 10 sailors working directly with Shonk appreciated having him around, Gambles said.
“They felt good that a kid from the high school would want to learn about what they do,” he said. “We teach the kid something, and we learn something from them.”
The students spent up to four hours every other day interning at various base organizations, ranging from the air traffic control planning section to the hospital’s medical lab. The program was well received by both student and supervisor.
“It’s a great program,” said Chief Petty Officer Joel Saikin, a flight engineer with the VP-5 squadron. “It gives high school kids the chance to see different aspects of the military. It gives them real-world experience.”
The students all chose a career field that they were interested in. Stephen Decatur’s career coordinator Kathy Campbell then worked to get them internships in those fields.
Senior Robert Martin said that next year he’ll be majoring in aeronautical sciences or engineering at the University of West Florida, and possibly later at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His internship with VP-5 gave him an idea of what it’s like to work in aviation.
“It helped me out a lot,” said Martin, who worked with Saikin in various squadron shops. “I think this internship gave me a lot of experience finding out what the job is like and what [Navy sailors assigned to a squadron] do.”
Campbell said that base commands were excited about the prospects of having high school interns. So much so, she said, that she’s got a list of people wanting students for next year.
“People wanted to have interns — they were asking for them,” she said. “We had so many people...willing to train the students.”
Campbell said she hopes to have about two dozen student taking part in the internship program next year.
