by Bryce Trull
Blount County High School
Five Tennessee high school students participated in a four-week summer internship that focuses on educating potential future conservation leaders about the workings of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The program is through the American Conservation Experience (ACE).
Led by Park Ranger Julianne Geleynse, the interns spent their days working with different departments in the park, including vegetation, fisheries, wildlife, interpretation, trails, fire and archeology.
“As interns we got to explore all the different job opportunities that the national park service has to offer,” said high school intern Kestrel Troutman.
Diversity of careers and people in NPS
Working with a diverse team of talented individuals every day provided the interns with skills, inspiration and confidence.
“It’s really opened my eyes to the diversity of careers and people in the park,” intern Megan Cheney said.
Before the internship, many of the interns were unaware of the career and volunteer opportunities in the national parks, but now, every intern is volunteering with the specific departments that interest them.
Role of volunteers
This is much to the delight of Jay and Sandra Aldrich, who have been volunteering in the park for eleven years and spent many days working with the interns.
“Having the opportunity to work alongside with these fantastic and gifted young adults and seeing them grow is amazing,” Sandra Aldrich said. “Watching them learn and even change their minds of what they want to become makes me proud to be a volunteer in the parks!“
It is obvious to anyone involved with this summer’s internship that the interns all had truly life changing experiences.
ACE, Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park staff provided an awesome experience that is sure to have inspired the beginning of successful careers for all five interns.
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This is the first in a series of blog posts by high school students participating in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Summer Internship Program. The students represent high schools in North Carolina and Tennessee that are near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The program is funded by both the Youth Partnership Program and Friends of the Smokies. FOTS has supported the program for 16 years, initially providing the salaries for the interns and now funding the program staff salaries.
The program is designed to give the interns a little taste of a variety of activities that rangers are involved with – from fisheries science to botany to forest and stream ecology. The interns gain an understanding of how the park is managed and are introduced to possible career opportunities.
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