Alumna Designed to Give Back to John Hersey High School

District 214 offers a nationally unique Internship Program, which carefully matches students with suburban partners in fields that fuel their passion, from culinary arts and architecture to engineering, fine arts, health care and education.

Michelle Koclanis, 1994 graduate of John Hersey High School, and owner of Creative Marketing and Graphic Design Solutions in Arlington Heights, accepted the role of internship host to Maximilian Weiss, interested in Graphic Design this past July.

"I think the concept of this program is outstanding. I personally did not have in internship experience until I was a junior in college," Michelle said. "As a high school student, you have no idea how many different career opportunities there are within the same field. This class is a great way for students to simply narrow their focus on what they like and don't like by experiencing it first-hand."

"I had a great week with Max, it was educational and fun for both of us," said Michelle.

At the end of the week Michelle gave Max a graphic design project, "I asked him to design a professional flyer appealing to high school students to promote the Districts Micro-Internship program to fellow classmates at John Hersey High School," said Michelle.

Max and Michelle are working with Nancy Davis, College Counselor, in the College Center and John Novak, Assistant Principal, at Hersey on a location within the school to display Max's work.

"I was excited to have been a part of this program and to have the opportunity to give back to the high school I attended. My husband Todd also attended Hersey (1992), and we have 3 boys who are future Huskies! We are thrilled to be in District 214 where these fabulous opportunities are available," said Michelle.

Since the program's inception, District 214 students have logged more than 1.1 million internship hours, with more than 600 industry partners from across District 214's eight communities signing on to offer students guided learning, speak at career fairs and visit classrooms to represent 21st century careers and industries. To become a partner or learn more about District 214's Internship Program, contact Krista Paul, Internship Program Director, at krista.paul@d214.org or 847.718.7947.