Employers, High School Students Come Together as 2023 Rock County Internship Program Kicks-Off

Row 1 (left to right): Timothy Coppernoll – JP Cullen, Nicholas Smerud – Rock County Public Health, Courtney Nelson – KANDU, Nate Peters – Blackhawk Fire, Caitlin Wirth – Mercy-Periop, Lily Hess – Forward Janesville, Addison Riley-Lein – Beloit Health Admin, Haley Leonhard – Mercy-Sports Medicine, Katelyn Punzel – Edgerton Hospital Radiology, Samantha Brooks – Mercy-Lab, Dawson Pippin – Stainless Tank-Engineering. Row 2: Sara Harrison – Beloit Health Hospice, Eva Mueller – Frito, Emma Boggess – Beloit Health Nursing, Anthony Ferrera – Mercy-Biomedical Engineering, Alex Nouansacksy – Blackhawk IT, Logan Grandt-Turke – KANDU, Nathanial Haag – The Morse Group, Sara Nemedi Varga – HealthNet, Eva White – Edgerton Hospital IT, Cam Shepherd – YWCA, Alexander Gil Tinoco – Siepert. Row 3: Mason Callahan – CCI, Colby Lengjak – Blackhawk Student Services, Logan Malkow – Mercy-Periop, Quentin Scherck – Revv Aviation, Luke Staack – Blackhawk Fire, Nicholas Allbee – Batterman, Austin Cruz – Scot Forge-Saw, Isaac Smith – Edgerton Admin, Cal Chmielewski – Scot Forge-Machine Shop, Isabella Bibro – Forward Janesville.

More than 30 high school juniors from nine different high schools kicked off their summer internships on Friday as part of the 2023 Summer Rock County Internship Program’s Signing and Orientation event.

Through a partnership with Blackhawk Technical College, the County of Rock, Rock County 5.0 and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, the 2023 Summer Rock Internship Program is a paid, six-week earn-and-learn opportunity that provides students with a structured and meaningful career pathway experience. The Summer 2023 cohort is the fourth time this program has been offered in Rock County and will conclude on July 28 with an intern graduation and capstone presentation event.

The students will work at one of 18 worksites:

• Batterman
• Beloit Health
• Blackhawk Technical College
• CCI
• Cullen
• Edgerton Hospital
• Forward Janesville
• Frito-Lay
• HealthNet
• KANDU
• Mercyhealth
• Morse
• Revv Aviation
• Rock County Public Health
• Scot Forge
• Siepert
• Stainless Tank
• YWCA

Students participating in the Rock Internship Program were required to submit a resume, a letter of recommendation, and an academic and career plan. These background items, as well as other factors, such as a student’s identified career pathway and/or actual occupation of interest, were used to match students with their worksites.

"It's more than just a job, you're networking," James Otterstein, Rock County Economic Development Manager, told the internship program participants. "You are going want to lean on those you work with in the short and long term of your career growth."