Internship Experience 1

Georgia College and State University

A Reflection of Interning with Baldwin County’s Board of Education, Nutrition Program

Alysha Hardy
Internship in Public Health
Dr. Ernie Kaninjing
July 15, 2020
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Introduction
For my summer internship I was given the opportunity to work with Baldwin County’s Board of

Education Nutrition Program. The goal of the nutrition program is to provide healthy, tasty, and

affordable meals to students in Baldwin County Schools. The Board of Education follows a Wellness

Policy that is committed to development of every student. Baldwin County aims to create a positive,

healthy, and safe leaning environment for students at every level and every setting throughout the school

year.

Working in the nutrition department has given me the opportunity to meet many people that have

expanded my knowledge of health and wellness as well as build relationships and rapport. I worked

alongside the Child Nutrition Program supervisor, Susan Nelson who assisted me with any questions and

concerns that I had while interning with program. She also checked in frequently to make sure I

maintained a hard work ethic and accessed evaluations on my progress with assignments. I also had the

opportunity to work with the Wellness Coordinator, Aketi Mayweather on the Georgia Pollination Census

and the 2020 Whole Kids Foundation Grant application for the middle school garden. The Georgia

Pollination census is a collaborative activity with Baldwin County’s FFA program and Becky Griffin who

is the coordinator of the Georgia Pollinator Census. Moreover, Ms. Sharon Reeves is the coordinator for

the middle school garden who has been more than helpful with helping me understand her mission and

goals for the school garden to write the essays for the grant application. Lastly, I was also able to assist

Mrs. Kathy Morgan; the Eligibility Clerk with her duties pertaining to Manager Resources Documents

and Co-Op Bid Books.

Internship Experience

My role as an intern is to assist, learn, and grow. Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Mayweather gave me

assignments that were actually beneficial to me because I was able to gain knowledge from every

assignment I worked on. Performing clerical duties was a big part of working with Kathy Morgan. I was

able to experience the steps that are taken to prepare the nutrition program for the upcoming semester. For
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example, I helped prepare the Manger Resources books. These Books contain documents that are needed

to the cafeteria mangers for all the schools in Baldwin County. Working on task like this was very time

consuming and challenging. I found myself having to create a schedule to help me navigate through my

daily task and make sure everything is completed in a timely manner.

Furthermore, my most challenging task was writing the grant application for the school garden.

Prior to interning, I did not have much knowledge of the process of writing a grant besides being taught

about it in one class throughout my entire college career. Knowing that I would have to write a grant gave

me immediate anxiety because I did not know what to expect. Researching a grant strengthened my

research skills with the many red flags and obstacles that I faced trying to find the grant best fit for the

school garden. I learned that I must always use scholarly and creditable sources because scams can be in

implemented in ways we least expect. Also, while writing this grant, I had to work on my mental health. I

found myself getting very discouraged and wanting to give up. Taking breaks and maintaining a schedule

with writing the grant application helped me control my anxiety and emotions.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed creating a Bee House tutorial for the FFA students. I love that I was

able to express my artist side and show my love for nature. This assignment gave me the opportunity to

not only educate the students but broaden my understanding of the ecosystems and ways we can keep it

sustainable for animals and healthy. I feel that the students will enjoy my tutorial video and enjoy creating

their own Bee Houses that they can show their families. I enjoyed this assignment because it promotes

healthy living environments and gives children a chance to work with friends and family building

stronger relationships. I am grateful to be a part of prompting health and wellness and keeping children

active and their brains stimulated in positive ways while we are home because of COVID-19.

Evaluation of Internship

Before starting the internship I felt really anxious because I did not know what to expect. I wasn’t

sure how operations would be because of the pandemic and everything being virtual. I honestly did not
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feel that having a virtual internship would be fruitful because I felt that I was still missing the field

experience. However, after having numerous meetings with the supervisor, staff, and other interns I was

able to feel relief. I think my main concern was completing required hours on my own compared to

working in an office on a set schedule.

Communication in the department is very fluent. We are expected to give a person a 24 hour

grace period to respond to phone calls and emails. My supervisor, Mrs. Mayweather, and Mrs. Morgan

have always responded and communicated in a professional and timely manner. They are very patient and

take their time to explain assignments to make sure we understand our task thoroughly. I appreciate that

because it decreases confusion and stress but has also helped me build rapport because of our strong

communication skills. I believe the best way to have improved my experience with my internship was to

have some in person meetings to enhance the field experience.

Furthermore, I would recommend students research all departments of the Baldwin County Board

of Education System because it is an amazing experience and gives the intern behind the scene experience

of planning and working for the school system. I would advise students who are interested in teaching or

any career pertaining to child education to research interning with a Board of Education. This opportunity

gave me experience on what it may be like working directly with students as well as the behind the scene

and preparedness needed for the teachers. Understanding the school system and its policies and

procedures is important when deciding if working in a public or private school setting is best. This

internship has help confirm my decision in wanting to teach and work with students. One of my long term

goals is to have a positon in the Board of Education and contribute to positive changes in the

communities.

Internship Preparedness/ Performance

Taking courses such as Community Health, Physical Education, Research Methods, Health

Promotion and Program Planning, etcetera were very helpful in preparing me for my internship. These
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courses taught me how to work with the community for the greater good of the community but also

strengthened my skills in understanding program planning as well as promoting health and wellness.

Having to write a grant strengthened my research skills and gave me experience that I know I will need as

a teacher. I believe that I was well prepared for my internship because I had previously acquired

experience with teaching students. Prior to my internship, my professor gave me necessary education on

many topics such as program planning and interventions, working in communities that are less fortunate,

and stressed the severity of health and wellness for me to implement in my internship or career.

Moreover, switching to a virtual internship is the area that made me feel the least prepared. I

honestly did not know what to expect because I assumed the sole purpose of an internship was to get field

experience and have the opportunity to shadow someone. Unfortunately, that was not applicable due to

the pandemic so I was adamant about maintaining a hard work ethic and communicating with my

supervisor as much as possible to stay on track. Overall, I would rate my quality of work 8. I would say

that I should improve in time management to help complete my daily task because I found myself

overwhelmed. Keeping an optimistic mindset and hard work ethic helped me meet deadlines. Mrs.

Mayweather and Mrs. Morgan were satisfied with all of the work I assisted them with but I know that I

could improve with my research skills and grant writing because of how difficult it was for me doing

grant research. I feel that I can also improve in program planning as well as working with students

because I was not able to as active in these areas due to the pandemic.

In conclusion, Georgia Colleges School of Health and Human Performance do an excellent job at

preparing Public Health students for internships and careers upon graduation. The courses give students

the opportunity to work with the community enhancing communication skills and teaching students to

work in diverse communities. The Public Health courses provided focus on all aspects of health that

students may want careers in such as research, epidemiology, physical education, health promotion,

sexology, and even health administration. I am very appreciative to have had the opportunity to be taught
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by very intelligent professors and was able to gain knowledge and experience that I know me and many

other can carry implement within our career.

Personal/Professional Benefits

This internship has given me the confidence to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to.

Completing this internship has been very rewarding experiencing because I have officially meet all

undergrad requirements and can obtain my degree in Public Health. Every semester I am faced with new

obstacles that are intimidating but I was adamant about completing my undergrad requirements because I

had come so far. I have to give myself a pep talk often; as a reminder that life will throw obstacles but I

have to choose if I will run or face my obstacles head on. I am excited yet nervous to start the next

chapter in my career. I have faith because I have come so far so it can only get better from here. Graduate

school won’t be easy, but neither was undergrad and other hardships that I dealt with. I am determined to

continue my education and strive for the highest peak of success.

Working with Baldwin County’s Board of Education has helped me gain insight of the severity

on how under resourced Milledgeville is. I had not had any knowledge of a county being able to obtain

free lunch to all of its schools because of how poor the community is. That fact alone made me want to

help the school and these students out in any way that I could. This community needs help from the

government but also from its citizens. Interventions and policies need to be created to help the citizens of

Milledgeville obtain proper knowledge on ways to maintain healthy lifestyles. So many students are

without primary care physicians due to lack of health insurance, transportation, and financial instability in

the homes. Some of the students at these schools live in less fortunate circumstances. These students do

not get meals outside of school and do not have assistance with understanding homework. The

government needs to step in and help our children because they are the future America.

These circumstances are very heart breaking and unfortunate but is the sole reason why I want to

teach and work on a board of education. I can relate to some of the hardship these students experience so
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to be able to make a change in a student’s life means a lot to me. I want to have a positive impact on all

the students I work with. I want to instill knowledge and health and wellness in them that they deserve.

Knowledge that they can carry on for generations. Health and wellness that will keep them healthy

mentally, physically and emotionally. I feel that the school should continue to provide services like the

Community Clinic and the Community Center in Harrisburg that are provided for the citizens. Positive

interactions like these are what get citizens to want to be more involved essentially helping themselves

and others.