High School Students Graduate from 2024 Rock Internship Program

Row 1, left to right: Ava Guadarrama, Autumn Meris, Mallory Brown, Lillian Stadelman, Teagan Perkins Walker, Madelyn Leider, Angella Nguyen, Devlyn Halvorsen, Sorch Morris. Row 2: Johandry Leyte, Timotay Althaus, Hailey Aleson, Samantha Feldman, Nicole de la Mora, Audrianna Luchsinger, Angel Miranda, Bardot Sheehy, DJ Kristiansen, Max Briesemeister, Avianna Hughes, Abigail Middleton, Jakendra Gammage. Row 3: Jacob Haag, Ivory Christiansen, Alexander Rougvie, Noah Sookraj, Logan Tysse, Leo Koerth, Rohan Sen, Advit Sukheja, Brooklyn Watkins. Not pictured: Mea Torsini, Kamryn Clark, and Jacob Schmaling.

On Friday, 35 high school students celebrated their graduation from the 2024 Summer Rock Internship Program in a ceremony held at Blackhawk Technical College. Each student shared a summary of their internship experiences, offering insights and achievements with family, friends and employers in attendance.

Through a partnership with Blackhawk, the County of Rock, Rock County 5.0 and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, the 2024 Summer Rock Internship Program is a paid, six-week earn-and-learn opportunity for high school students. Students must apply for the program and to ensure the best placement for each student, applications require a resume, a letter of recommendation, academic outlines and a career plan. Other factors, such as a student’s identified career pathway and occupation of interest, were also used to match students to their worksites.

“I would tell any high schooler interested in one of the careers offered in this program to participate. It helped me clarify what I wanted to do and showed me what healthcare was really like. I ended up staying in touch with people at my worksite and they’re my biggest mentors now,” said Madison Sullivan, an alumna of the program. 

Five of this summer’s interns worked at Blackhawk, working with staff in Security, IT, Student Services and Athletics. 

The Blackhawk 2024 Summer Interns:

• Ivory Christianson – IT
• Leo Koerth – Security
• Madelyn Leider – Security
• Sorch Morris - Student Services
• Logan Tysse – Athletics

Other employers participating in this summer’s program include: ANGI Energy, Angus-Young Associates, Beloit Health System, Blackhawk Technical College, CCI, Charter Next Generation, Edgerton Health, Frito-Lay, Helicopter Specialties, JP Cullen, MercyHealth, OrthoIllinois – Beloit Surgery Center, Prent Corporation, R.H. Batterman, Rock County Public Health, Scot Forge, SSM Health, Stateline YMCA, The Morse Group, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County and the YWCA. 

These internships can often lead to long-term opportunities for participating students.

“Our intern has been fantastic to the extent we are working to extend her a full-time internship position next summer,” said Alex Mielke, JP Cullen’s Marketing Manager.

2024 Rock County Summer Interns:

• Hailey Aleson, Edgerton High School
• Timotay Althaus, The Lincoln Academy
• Max Briesemeister, Beloit Turner High School
• Mallory Brown, Craig High School
• Ivory Christianson, Rock University High School
• Kamryn Clark, Beloit Turner High School
• Nicole de la Mora, Craig High School
• Samantha Feldman, Arise Virtual Academy
• Jakendra Gammage, Beloit Memorial High School
• Ava Guadarrama, The Lincoln Academy
• Jacob Haag, Clinton High School
• Devlyn Halverson, Beloit Turner High School,
• Avianna Hughes, Craig High School
• Leo Koerth, Edgerton High School
• DJ Kristiansen, Milton High School
• Madelyn Leider, Edgerton High School
• Johandry Leyte, The Lincoln Academy
• Audrianna Luchsinger, Edgerton High School
• Ave Magee, Milton High School
• Autumn Meris, Beloit Turner High School
• Abigail Middleton, Beloit Memorial High School
• Angel Miranda, Parker High School
• Sorch Morris, Parker High School
• Angella Nguyen, Edgerton High School
• Teagan Perkins Walker, Milton High School
• Alexander Rougvie, Beloit Memorial High School
• Jacob Schmaling, Parker High School
• Rohan Sen, Edgerton High School
• Bardot Sheehy, Milton High School
• Noah Sookraj, Craig High School
• Lillian Stadelman, The Lincoln Academy
• Advit Sukheja, Edgerton High School
• Mea Torsini, Beloit Turner High School
• Logan Tysee, Beloit Turner High School
• Brooklyn Watkins, Beloit Memorial High School
• Kaleb Yuhas, Beloit Turner High School

To learn more about available workforce and talent development initiatives, please contact Blackhawk’s Workforce & Community Development at businessdevelopment@blackhawk.edu or (608)-757-7623.