by Tara Walker
Alyssa Fawkes thanks the Board of County Commissioners for her internship
at Tuesday’s meeting.
The 2017 Grand County summer internship program has concluded. Six interns gave their final presentations before the Board of County Commissioners on August 15th. All students were thankful for the experience as they spoke about the practical hands on opportunities they had while interning in Grand County. Parents, coworkers and county commissioners applauded the students as they presented pictures, recounted memories and spoke of future goals.
Alyssa Fawkes was an intern with the Coroner’s Office this summer. Brenda Bock from Grand County Coroner, was appreciative of all the work that Alyssa did, “We are death investigators. She has great curiosity and has done very well. We feel honored to have had her.” Alyssa was excited with all she learned, although she promised she wouldn’t go into gory details during her presentation.
West Grand Graduate Gabby Willson was an intern with the CSU Extension Office this summer. Willson expressed her appreciation during her presentation, “I wanted to be involved in something new and exciting, and something that I knew would push me every day. This internship has equipped me with new skills that I can now take with me and apply to different programs at my college.” She had previously participated in 4h, so this was a great extension of her previous interests.
MPHS sophomore Avery Mutch interned with Animal Care and Control. “I’ve been volunteering at the animal shelter since I was about 10 so I was excited at the opportunity to intern. This experience taught me responsibility, and working with animals helps you take care of another life.” She beamed as she explained how she helped socialize animals and how good she felt when her charges were adopted.
Gina Manguso and Caitlin Davis were interns for Grand County EMS. Both interns explained in their presentations that they worked hard painting and organizing while learning more about EMS. Gina is currently a student with West Grand High, “It has helped me learn that you need to work with a team even when you don’t always agree with other people. This is my first job and having this experience will help me with my future. It was a great experience.”
Caitlin Davis will be a Junior at MPHS, “Grand County EMS is a great place to start learning with my future career. This is a great first step with a lot of fun learning experiences. I learned how to grow up and work in an adult environment. I want to go into the medical field and eventually be a physician’s assistant.”
Nelson Oxley gave the final presentation with Information Technology, “I chose the Grand County Summer Internship Program to help pay for my ski racing and learn more about the information technology field. I believe it will help me in the future to help support people with computer systems.” He was able to have a lot of hands on technical experience at offices and at the fair.
County Manager Lee Staab expressed that the internship program was a worthwhile venture for Grand County, “This is an investment in our future. We need to give young people the opportunity to learn about public service. This two-month experience will hopefully spark their interest in serving.
