KBLOG 39: START LOOKING NOW! The Not-So-Secret Secrets to Amazing Internships for Students and Teachers

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The Challenge:

Many of my students, myself included participated in internships, usually over the summer. The students express that their internships were the pivotal high school event helping them to in develop and determine their interests and career paths.

An internship for teachers adds many teaching tools that can be brought to the classroom, teachers usually get paid too! I had a summer internships working in medical labs that gave me the opportunity to publish some scientific papers. My most memorable internship was based out of Oklahoma University and involved doing honeybee research in Turkey and Greece. The challenge of course is to find the right internship fit for teachers and students, applying and completing a persuasive application.

A Solution:

There are three simple and obvious things that are key to successfully finding and getting into an internship program for both teachers and students.

1.  Do a thorough search engine search for specific internship programs (see below) and contact organizations and research scientists with a special and well thought out email request to develop your own internship (see below: Internship advice . . .)   

2.    Work long and hard on developing and writing your application to formal programs.

3.   Start NOW! Great intentions, good ideas and lofty goals are meaningless if you procrastinate. The competition for internships is fierce and you know someone out there has already started and they want what you want.           

YOU CAN CONTACT ME FOR HELP rkurtz3@k12stemspace.com                                                          

 Resources (SAMPLES OF MANY AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES)

For teachers

Type into a search engine “science organizations that sponsor teacher summer research” – to get dozens of hits!

https://www.aai.org/Education/Summer-Teachers - American Association of Immunologists

https://nationalmaglab.org/education/teachers/ret/ - Magnetic Field Laboratory

https://cemb.upenn.edu/resources/stem-teacher-research-experiences/ - Center for Engineering Mechnobiology

https://www.bme.cornell.edu/bme/programs/summer-research-experience-teachers - Biomedical Engineering Cornell University

For students

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqqtdxsCBT0 – Internship advice from a high school student

https://www.pathwaystoscience.org/programs.aspx?descriptorhub=SummerResearch_Summer%20Research%20Opportunity – Pathways to Science, great search tool

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/training-career-development/high-school-undergraduate-post-baccalaureate/research-supplements-promote-diversity-health-related-research - Diversity supplements to promote diversity in health-related research

https://www.noaa.gov/education/opportunities/students - student opportunities at NOAA

https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/NSA/students-and-internships - student opportunities at the National Security Agency

https://intern.nasa.gov – NASA internship programs

https://blog.collegevine.com/14-awesome-internships-for-high-school-students/ - 25 Awesome High School Internships

https://www.nshss.org/blog/11-best-summer-internships-for-high-school-students/ - 11 best summer internships for High School students

https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/ - Research experience for undergraduates

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