PCS internship program launches

PCS internship program launches
Posted on 11/07/2018
Plumas Charter School pine cone logoPlumas Charter School recently announced that it would like to expand its career-technical education program by adding student internships in partnership with local businesses.

“PCS prioritizes community integration,” said Executive Director Taletha Washburn. “We want our kids to understand how they fit into our communities, and we want them to see the local opportunities available to them.”

Members of PCS’s board of directors are currently reaching out to local businesses and organizations where the school’s learning centers are located—Quincy, Indian Valley, and Chester—to form internship relationships.

Washburn pointed out that internships are positive arrangements for everyone involved, offering benefits to the hosting businesses, larger community, PCS, and the student interns (see below).

“Community partnerships are very valuable to PCS,” said Washburn. “We look forward to forming new connections!”

Currently, PCS is focusing on creating internships that align with the school’s five existing CTE pathways: agricultural science, food service and hospitality, patient care, public safety, and software systems and development. More pathways are under development, according to Washburn, with emphasis on careers and occupations that students can pursue locally.

For more information about PCS, or to inquire about establishing an internship, call 530-283-3851.

By Ingrid Burke, I. Burke Writing & Editing
[email protected]


Selected benefits of internship program

Benefits for host:
  • Energizes existing employees who serve as mentors
  • Improves supervisory and motivational skills
  • Facilitates recruitment of qualified employees
Benefits for community:
  • Produces prepared workforce tuned to local economy
  • Establishes positive community image
  • Improves regional recruitment pool
Benefits for school:
  • Keeps education current by addressing immediate employer needs
  • Uses workplace to enhance student learning
  • Creates strategic partnerships with local industry
Benefits for interns:
  • Develops job skills as well as “soft skills” (e.g., communication, critical thinking, innovation)
  • Highlights employer and workplace expectations
  • Builds leadership skills and self-confidence