The six-week Summer Rock County Internship Program culminated with a graduation ceremony on Friday, July 28, at the Rock County Human Services building, featuring capstone presentations by 32 high school juniors.
The program, a collaborative effort between Blackhawk Technical College, the County of Rock, Rock County 5,0, and the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, is a paid earn-and-learn opportunity that offers students a structured and meaningful career pathway experience.
The participating students came from six different school districts, including Janesville, Beloit, Beloit Turner, Clinton, Milton and Edgerton, and the worked within a variety of industries at locations throughout Rock County, including Batterman, Beloit Health System, Blackhawk Technical College, CCI, Cullen, Edgerton Hospital, Forward Janesville, Frito Lay, HealthNet, KANDU, Mercyhealth, Morse Electric, Rock County Public Health, Scot Forge, Siepert, STE, and YWCA.
"It's okay if you got into this and thought: ‘Hey, I really don't like this, or this is something I don't want to do for the rest of my life.’ This is the perfect time to figure that out - a lot of career cruising needs to happen earlier, and this is the perfect example of that. Every job we've ever had has taught us lifelong skills,” James Otterstein, Rock County Economic Development Manager, told the internship program participants.
Students participating in the Rock Internship Program were required to present a summary of their experiences before family, friends, employers and guests at Friday’s graduation.
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.
Summer 2023 Cohort (name, internship employer and high school):
- Nicholas Allbee, Batterman (Craig)
- Addison Riley-Lein, Beloit Health System – Administration (Parker)
- Sara Harrison, Beloit Health System – Hospice (Beloit Turner)
- Emma Boggess, Beloit Health System – Nursing (Clinton)
- Luke Staack, Blackhawk Technical College – Fire Safety (Beloit Turner)
- Nate Peters, Blackhawk Technical College – Fire Safety (Parker)
- Alex Nouansacksy, Blackhawk Technical College – Information Technology (Craig)
- Colby Lengjak, Blackhawk Technical College – Student Services (Beloit Turner)
- Mason Callahan, Corporate Contractors, Inc. (Beloit Turner)
- Isaac Smith, Edgerton Hospital – Administration (Milton)
- Eva White, Edgerton Hospital – Information Technology (ARISE Virtual Academy)
- Katelyn Punzel, Edgerton Hospital – Radiology (Edgerton)
- Bella Bibro, Forward Janesville (Parker)
- Lily Hess, Forward Janesville (Beloit Turner)
- Ava Mueller, Frito-Lay North America (Clinton)
- Sara Nemedi Varga, HealthNet., Inc. (Clinton)
- Timothy Coppernoll, JP Cullen (Beloit Turner)
- Courtney Nelson, KANDU Industries, Inc. (Beloit Turner)
- Logan Grandt-Turke, KANDU Industries, Inc. (Craig)
- Anthony Ferrera, Mercyhealth – Biomedical Engineering (Beloit Memorial)
- Samantha Brooks, Mercyhealth – Laboratory (Milton)
- Caitlin Wirth, Mercyhealth – Perioperative Services (Beloit Turner)
- Logan Malkow, Mercyhealth – Perioperative Services (Beloit Turner)
- Haley Leonhard, Mercyhealth – Sports Medicine (Craig)
- Nathaniel Haag, The Morse Group (Clinton)
- Quentin Scherck, Revv Aviation (Beloit Turner)
- Nicholas Smerud, Rock County Public Health (Milton)
- Cal Chmielewski, Scot Forge – Machine Shop (Beloit Turner)
- Austin Cruz, Scot Forge – Saw (Craig)
- Alexander Gil Tinoco, Siepert & Co., Inc. (Clinton)
- Dawson Pippin, Stainless Tank and Equipment (STE) – Engineering (Beloit Memorial)
- Camille Shepherd, YWCA Rock County (Rock University High School)
For a sampling of the internship descriptions, as well as information about the employers that hosted interns, please visit yourrockinternship.com.
To learn more about workforce and talent development initiatives, please contact Blackhawk’s Workforce & Community Development at businessdevelopment@blackhawk.edu or 608-757-7623.