Scarsdale Students And Their Senior Options Internships

Every year seniors at Scarsdale High School start their Senior Options programs in early May and begin the transition process out of the school and into the real world. Students end their classes and final tests at the end of April and then begin a 6 week long internship. According to the school website, the Senior Options program is "the culmination of students' careers at Scarsdale High School." Students enjoy ending their classes to begin more practical learning. The program allows students to apply to internships  that interest them. Students are able to experience working in the real world, for many students for the first time. "The program allows students to extend the skills and knowledge that they have developed in school by applying them in areas of personal interest." Students and the community both benefit from the student's work programs. Many students work at local venues like restaurants in the village or real estate offices. Other students work in other towns or over state lines. Each student is assigned a faculty member to monitor their progress and what they've learned on the job. Students must keep time logs, signed by their internship employers, and hand them in each week to ensure accountability. "To ensure that this experience will be rigorous and worthwhile, seniors work closely with faculty members", states the Scarsdale website.

At a traditional internship the student works 30 hours a week, 5 days a week. The student chooses to intern in a field or category in which they may be interested in pursuing as a career. While some believe the students' senior year would be better completed in a classroom, most of the community supports the Senior Options program and rely on the students' help. Some interesting programs include working at an art gallery or working around horse stables. Scarsdale10583 profiled a couple Scarsdale students and their fascinating internships.

Cara Blumstein is working at Samuel Owen Gallery in Greenwich CT for her Senior Options project. Cara has always been passionate about art and found senior options to be the perfect opportunity to explore the art world. "I am really enjoying learning about both sides of the business of art, both the creative and the selling, as well as everything in between", explained Cara. While at the Gallery Cara performs a variety of tasks, both creative and professional. She is currently assisting in a line of art pieces created entirely out of folded paper butterflies. "At the studio, I sort, fold, and pin the paper butterflies that are cut from vintage comic books and decommissioned currency. Lee, my boss, then uses these butterflies to create large, colorful targets and stars, amongst other things", explained Cara of the art pieces pictured. "I also enter pieces of art into the cash register system and help with other administrative tasks", elaborated Cara. The whole process of creating the butterfly pieces and other art was surprisingly difficult and time consuming. "I was really surprised by how labor intensive creating the pieces is. A lot of contemporary artists use machines to streamline the creation process, but the butterfly pieces are truly handmade, start to finish" described Cara.

While she loves working at the gallery, the working world is new to Cara, like many other senior options students. "Commuting is definitely one of the less fun parts of Senior Options, but I try to pass the car rides by listening to podcasts", stated Cara. She explained that she has a newfound respect for her parents who have been commuting and working hard for years. She now better understands their lives. "I admire that my parents can fit in activities, like exercising or meeting up with friends, before and after work. I come home each day thoroughly exhausted!"

This internship has further inspired Cara to pursue art as a career. "I have always been interested in art, and this internship has only increased my excitement to enter the art world. I hope to pursue a career in the gallery or museum world, and I love working for the Samuel Owen Gallery team!" exclaimed Cara.

Steven Nicodemo is working the counter at the Provisions Bakery in Pelham for his Senior Options. So far he has been taught to work the register and take customer orders by the phone or in person. Steven says he enjoys working at this bakery especially because the bakery has a friendly-family environment. Steven said, "I do have an increased level of respect for my parents because I never realized what it was like to work a 9 to 5 job". So far Steven is enjoying his Senior Options experience and it has opened his mind to possibly considering this venue as a career option.

Mike Blank is working at City Hall for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mike explained what he has been doing "Recently I have been working a lot for the Chief of Staff of Intergovernmental Affairs, making an organized chart that details the hierarchy of everyone working within IGA as well as their contact information and position. I also have been helping her by scheduling interviews with multiple applicants for a high ranking job within the Department of Education" Mike's Senior Options sponsor is is the director of the Department of Education.

Mike has been able to see first hand the problems that his sponsor deals with. Mike explained, "he has been dealing with a charter school that wants to co-locate with a public school in Queens, a situation that has caused protests by parents from the public school. I have been conducting research on the public school for him".

Mike has also "worked for the Director of Social Services by creating a spreadsheet of the governmental representatives (Council Members, Assembly Members, State Senators, and Members of Congress) of the city's homeless shelters. Additionally, I have been helping the DC rep by contacting the offices of New York's congressmen and senators about public constituent events in NYC so that de Blasio can make appearances". Blank explained that he finds his senior options very enjoyable because he is passionate about the topics and issues he has faced in City Hall. He further explained that he enjoys being in City Hall because of the "cool architecture, paintings of political figures, and the demonstrations that happen outside of it fairly often and also the food outside of City Hall is also amazing".  He is surprised to see how passionate government workers are about what they do.  Mike said the experience has furthered his interest in going into politics and government as a career.

Lucas Tesler is working with groomers at Boulder Brook Stables in Scarsdale.  Lucas described his main activities at his job saying, "I care for the horses, clean their stalls, put their saddles on, feed them, work around the barn." Lucas is also in charge of painting the polls that the horses jump over." Additionally I have been doing lots of painting. The horses do a lot of jumping over painted wooden polls and they get knocked and battered with use. I have been tasked with sanding and repainting these polls", explained Lucas. He does a lot of manual labor outside painting and working. He says this new experience has given him a "newfound respect for manual labor. It takes a lot of discipline and energy, and I am not nearly as good at simple tasks as the experienced guys. Believe it or not, there is a right way to sweep the floor." Lucas says that Senior Options has given him a new interest in horses, and he would like to take up riding at some point. He has enjoyed working with the groomers who work there and learning about their lives. "Every single groomer is an immigrant, they speak varying degrees of English. I have spoken to many of them about their personal lives and working at Boulder Brook has given me a new respect and insight into the lives of people who are members of a very different ethnic and socio-economic class than the one I'm used to".