- Cedar Creek Elementary
- Homepage
CTE Internship Program Gives BISD Students New Insight
Bastrop ISD and 23 local businesses and community organizations teamed up this summer to provide nearly 40 high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to gain real-world, paid experience in their future career path.
Funded by the 2020-2021 Summer Career and Technical Education Grant from the Texas Education Agency for $50,000, Bastrop ISD placed interns in authentic, high-quality environments including medicine, public relations, technology, public safety, financial services, municipal government, real estate, law, food service, retail, entertainment, industrial, and construction.
“The program aimed at accomplishing three goals: to provide students with authentic work-based learning experiences, to support the development of essential skills necessary for successful careers, and to foster relationships between the school district and our business community,” said Dr. Steven Henn, who oversees work-based learning for the district.
Each intern received two weeks of career preparation instruction from Cedar Creek High School business teacher Entrece Mosley, followed by approximately eight weeks of a work internship. Inez Escamilla-Joslyn is one of the many business owners who supported this program and found value in it.
“Working with our summer intern was a great experience!” said Escamilla-Joslyn, Owner & Founder of Loose Cannon Industries, LLC. “He was motivated and eager to learn. We're happy to take part in training the future workforce of America.”
Henn said the internship got its wings through the incredible support from the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce and Becki Womble, President and CEO of the Chamber.
“We are so grateful for the partnership with the Bastrop Chamber. They helped us locate and enlist businesses to partner with us. So many businesses being willing to host high school students is a testament to tremendous community support as well,” said Henn. “We’re feeling the support only grow as we share this story with more people.”
Businesses interested in learning more about ways to partner with Bastrop ISD can visit https://www.bisdtx.org/workbasedlearning and fill out a short survey with their information.