MHS internship program prepares students for workplace

By Marconi Calindas
Reporter

High school students are given a chance to know how it is like to be in the workplace when they enroll in an elective course under the Cooperative Education and Training Program.

The program, which started in 1971, is being successfully conducted at the Marianas High School, said Tyce Mister, a teacher and coordinator of the program at MHS, during a brief presentation Tuesday at the Saipan Rotary Club’s weekly meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Mister said the program is divided into two categories—Cooperative Education and Cooperative Training.

Under Cooperative Education, the students are oriented in the careers of their interest. They are then taught how to file application letters to companies and practice interviews are conducted to prepare the students for actual job interviews.

The students also undergo personal development courses, attend educational field trips, and other career explorations, said Mister.

Cooperative Training is where the actual career fair happens. The students under this program will be recommended to at least three interviews for on-the-job training opportunities.

The students are required to fulfill at least two hours of work in the company that selected them under a carefully written training agreement between trainees and employers.

Parents, guardians, co-op teachers, principals, employers, and the students would sign the agreement.

Mister said that compensation is not mandatory for the employers, but is encouraged.

He said students who would like to enroll in this one-credit program must be senior- standing students with good attendance record and must have a positive attitude, with no disciplinary problems.

Transportation means is recommended to get students to their internship workplace, although Mister said it is not required.

Mister said that students in the program would be exposed to the work experience they will have to deal with in the future. The program would also make the students see the importance of college education, when they find out the courses required to get a specific job and the program would be able to develop the strengths of the students as well as their skills and their talents.

Mister said he has been involved with the program since 1996, and has seen more than 500 students who took and successfully finished the internship program.