How One TZ Student-Intern Is Using Her Experience To Prepare for College and Career

In the spring, students taking Senior Seminar at Tappan Zee High School intern with a mentor from the community to explore a career opportunity or personal interest. The goal of the program — part of English 12 and offered in conjunction with Participation in Government III — is to provide interns with hands-on, real-world learning experiences that help them further develop organizational, interpersonal and other transferable skills. Nina V. chose to do hers on social media marketing and communications* with the Rockland BOCES Communications Service team based in SOCSD.

Nina, who plans to study Business Administration in the fall at Northeastern University, knows that both are essential in today's field. “Marketing plays such a central role in business strategy, brand growth and consumer engagement [...while] understanding how to communicate effectively strengthens [a person’s] ability to lead, pitch concepts, build networks and grow a brand or business,” said Nina. “I’ve always been interested in how [they] work together and wanted the opportunity to better understand that process firsthand [...] by collaborating with professionals. Regardless, it’s a valuable skill set [to have].”

Nina’s internship largely consists of creating multimedia assets for posting to the TZHS Instagram page (@tappan_zee_hs) and attending regular meetings with the mentor as well as Principal Melissa Luciano to ensure key initiatives are being promoted at the building level. “I love curating posts and stories because it allows me to express my creativity in a practical way,” she said. “[However,] I want to learn not just how to create visually-appealing posts, but content with intention [influenced by the] target audience, brand voice, timing and performance metrics. Beyond technical skills, I would love to begin building and defining my own personal brand, understanding how to present myself professionally and use digital platforms to reflect my interests, values and goals.”

In addition to the work assigned by the mentor, students are also required to write a research paper, keep a journal and give a presentation reflecting on their experience. Be on the lookout for #NewsfromNina!

*The South Orangetown Central School District Board of Education’s Policy 5695 — Students and Personal Electronic Devices — provides for specific, limited exemptions which require administrator approval. This internship requires the use of such a device, which was permitted by the building principal for this specific educational purpose.