Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Like many small school districts, Poynette struggles to find full-time teachers, substitute teachers, and paraprofessionals to fill vacancies. So they got creative and formed the Poynette Student Paraprofessional Intern Work Experience Program. It’s more than a “grow-your-own” teacher program, though; it is a work-based learning opportunity for students to get credit, real-world experience, and a sense for whether they want to pursue teaching as a career.
The idea was born when Pamela Puntney, Business Office Assistant, who manages the substitute list, says it was becoming increasingly difficult to find staff, especially since COVID-19. She realized that the school was sending students to get work experience at local daycares and wondered, “Why can’t we find a role for them here in our district?” She started vetting what would become the Student Paraprofessional Intern Work Experience Program with DPI and Poynette staff.
Jay Hausser, Elementary Principal, said, “It was so easy for me as a principal when Pam asked, ‘do you want more people up there to help you,’ and I said, ‘Uh, yes’.”
Next, she put together a job description and a program proposal for the school board, which were approved. The program is for juniors and seniors interested in working with kids so career interests might include education, social work, or human services, among others. Students are considered LTEs, work 2-4 hours a day (depending on their schedules), make $12.50/hour, and earn one credit.
As a Title I school, Poynette’s student interns cannot perform the same duties as a qualified staff member. However, says Principal Hausser, “It has been great for our high school students to be in the school environment, and their supervision at lunch and recess has been extremely helpful.”
Students in the program can perform the following:
- Listen to students read aloud (reading that is not part of an intervention)
- Lead or play learning games that are not part of an intervention
- Support a teacher or paraprofessional with classroom activities not part of an intervention (i.e., managing kindergarteners playing at a water table)
- Demonstrate activities for “brain breaks” led by the teacher or paraprofessional
- Provide clerical support for the teacher or paraprofessional (i.e., making copies, creating bulletin boards, etc.)
- Observe lesson planning if personally identifiable information (PII) is not shared.
“Because the students are filling a need,” adds Pamela, “their wages come out of the regular education budget.”
The program is drawing increasing interest. “I saw the ad when I was 15, the summer before junior year,” says Abby Hughes, who was accepted as a junior and re-enrolled as a senior. “It was really awesome to be able to come into the elementary school and get to work with all of the different grade levels.”
The program has grown from three students in 2022-23 to five students in 2023-24 and is now going into its third year. “I know that we have students who have gone through this program,” says Ann Kirschbaum, high school counselor. “They’re seniors, they’re graduating, and this year they have come back to work for us again. I do think that speaks to the strength of the program.”
The program is flexible, too. If the 450-hour requirement of Youth Apprenticeship is too much for a student, districts can use another work-based learning (WBL) program, such as an internship program or an employability co-op program, that requires 90 hours instead, as long as it meets all six WBL requirements.
“It’s been really fun to learn what works for me and what doesn’t and what I want to do,” says Abby, who is studying elementary education and special education at UW-La Crosse.