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City High Internships 2006-2007

1st Trimester

Tom Quasey's	Ashley Ginser
Erin Fitzgerald	Tonisha Brown
Tondalayia Smith	Joe Adragna
Marlana Mandrier	Therezia Alchoufete
Victoria (Mary) Stefanik	Brett Scott’s
Aisha Majeed and Tanera Wilson	Andrew Russell
Sheree Williams’	Donte Dickey
Ashley Schmidt’s	RaLyn Wright's
Rachael Madden	Melanie Komosa
Sara Kyles	Wayne Norman
Andrew Watkins	Jaquala Lowery's
Liz Hillard	Missy Bayerlein

Decker's Service Station in the Allentown section of Pittsburgh was the site for Tom Quasey's internship with Mr. Jeff Decker, Sr. Jeff was pleased with Tom's workforce skills, always arriving on time, being polite and conscientious, and willing to do anything and doing it well. Would he hire Tom tomorrow? His answer was "Yes, he has been a big help." Jeff is always looking for dependable employees and would be happy to hire an intern to continue working at the station. During the 3 months of his internship, Tom learned to fix tires properly, pump kerosene for customers, and help Jeff and the mechanics in the service bays. He was allowed to do jobs on his own with little supervision once he proved that he could do work for him. Unfortunately Tom lives in too far away to make the commute there every day safely and in a timely way. Tom said that he appreciated the opportunity to work closely with Jeff, learning new things; he also enjoyed the camaraderie he had with all of the "guys". He feels he has a new set of rules to follow as he pursues his future career. He plans to start at CCAC for basic courses, then transfer for a degree in mechanical engineering. His final comment was "It's been a great experience!"

Ashley Ginser is learning about a law career through her internship with Jon Maknoon, a criminal law attorney in downtown Pittsburgh. Attorney Maknoon was initially skeptical about how a high school student could assist in the operation of his practice, but agreed to give Ashley a chance. Maknoon’s colleagues told him not to let her do anything; that they had worked with interns who couldn’t care less. Maknoon stated, “I can honestly say nothing has been wrong the whole time. She can walk anywhere in the courthouse and people know and accept her.” Ashley goes to court to file motions, interacts with judges’ staff to resolve issues, counts, reconciles and takes deposits to the bank. She also requests and picks up discovery packets. Ashley says “I didn’t know anything about the law when I came here. Mr. Maknoon would repeatedly question me to make sure I remembered processes of law.” Attorney Maknoon, who began as a skeptic, now is sorry that Ashley’s internship is ending.

Erin Fitzgerald is planning on pursuing a career in the medical field, and her internship in the Radiology Department at UPMC Shadyside was a good place to prepare for it. The PV techs in the unit, shown in the picture, are Fred, Kelly, Patty, Keith, and Deb who is the supervisor. Erin learned the responsibility of organizing patient charts, entering data on the hospital's DATA CHECK system, running errands to different parts of the hospital, answering phones, and alerting staff when patients arrived. Her mentor, Kathy Russin, RT, described Erin as a professional, a quick learner who demonstrated interest and initiative and was always on time. When asked to comment on her experience, Erin stated that "from the very first day everyone in the lab took me in, it felt like a little family by the end of three months! It was very hard to tell everyone goodbye, but I am so thankful for the whole experience; it was something I will always remember!"

Tonisha Brown spent her three-month internship working at Ten Thousand Villages in Squirrel Hill. Ten Thousand Villages is a not-for-profit boutique that sells fairly traded items from around the world. Purchasing something at Ten Thousand Villages assures you that the artisans were fairly compensated for their products. Tonisha worked with Diane Knowles, the store manager, and Patricia Barbarino-Perego, the chairperson of the organization’s board of directors. Her work responsibilities included completing inventories of incoming merchandise which involved getting orders out of boxes, verifying that the number ordered was the number received, and checking the condition of all articles. In addition, she set up holiday merchandise and assisted in rearranging the store for holiday displays. Tonisha also worked on the selling floor where she had to explain the concept of fair trade to customers.

When a City High intern meets or exceeds the mentor's expectations, everyone wins. This is the case with Tondalayia Smith, who interned with Shannon Barkley, an Assistant Solicitor for the City of Pittsburgh Department of Law. Shannon praised Tondi for her polite, hard-working demeanor. She prepared case files and organized folders before trials, closed out old case files, took motions to court, and attended Civil and Family Court cases with Shannon. She became an expert in managing data on the "City Law" computer program used by the City. Some attorneys did not know how to use it so she became their mentor! She also worked with paraprofessionals, municipal, labor and trial lawyers. One day she met Judge Tom Flaherty who invited her to visit his chambers to see what is behind that door in the courtroom. Tondalayia is still very interested in a career in law and still believes that Family Law may be the area she prefers. She said "I don't want to leave (my internship) - it's not long enough. It's really like a job!" Some day she may even be Judge Tondalayia Smith!

When asked to describe her intern, Shawna Sutherland said "excellent", very punctual, dedicated, and versatile. Joe Adragna got to know everyone and helped them, even the supervisors of the Physical Therapy Department at UPMC Shadyside. He kept track of everything and was very out-going with staff and patients in the out-patient area. Shawna said that he wore different hats for different people so that he did things correctly and moved on to more tasks. In hand therapy Joe learned methods of treatment in both physical and occupational therapy. He conducted surveys with the in-patients receiving physical therapy for feedback on their satisfaction with the treatment they received. Joe said that his 13-week internship at UPMC Shadyside strengthened his commitment to pursue a career in Physical Therapy. He thanked Shawna and all of the PT personnel who welcomed him to their department and gave him a chance to begin learning about his chosen career.

One of the four interns at West Penn Hospital this trimester was Marlana Mandrier. She worked for Dina Boyd, RN, BSN, the Manager of the Pediatric & Adolescent Care Unit. Marlana participated in many of the daily activities and duties of the unit, which included cleaning toys and rooms for the young patients, and stocking the rooms with basic supplies. She handled flow sheets and ran errands to the copy centers, admissions department, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and newborn unit. Marlana trained intensively to answer telephone calls to the Pediatric Unit, making sure that the information was clearly conveyed. Her favorite opportunity was holding the babies, and she is more convinced that she wants to become a nurse. Marlana said that she was exposed to "lots of interesting things at West Penn Hospital." Her commitment was so great that she went in on Veterans' Day, her day off from school. Dina said that Marlana has come a long way, and that she was more at ease with her responsibilities as the trimester continued. She was a big help on Veteran's Day because things were really busy and they were grateful for the extra pair of hands!

Therezia Alchoufete is an addition to the corps of interns at West Penn Hospital this year. Her career area is chemistry, and the volunteer coordinator of the hospital, Vicki Nesta, suggested that she might benefit from an internship in the pharmacy. Stephen Herman, Pharm. D., agreed to host Therezia as his first high school intern from City High, and he stated that she has been an asset to them in many ways. They do studies on investigational drugs (approved by the FDA but not on the shelf yet) and follow specific treatment protocols; there are also reports on whether a drug worked. Therezia helps with the record keeping of inventory, storing the shipments and signing them in the book, and entering reports of returned dosages from patients. She also checks for expired meds. In the picture she is shown prepackaging chlorhexedrine, a mouth wash, in smaller units of use. Therezia has also done projects in Work and EXCEL for Stephen and his associates. She has already observed an angiography; she will soon have a chance to visit the radiation oncology or catheterization labs. Therezia really prefers these hands-on opportunities because she plans to continue her education in medicine and research. Stephen said she is always pleasant and helpful, and, thanks to Therezia's hard work, he has already agreed to consider another intern for next spring. She said that one result of her internship is that "I know what drugs can do for you."

Victoria (Mary) Stefanik is completing her internship at St. Agnes School in Oakland. She works in Laura Gilbert’s fourth grade classroom. Victoria has experienced many of the responsibilities associated with teaching. She corrects papers and enters grades, makes morning math sheets and overhead masters. Victoria also helps individual students during class lessons and after school. Ms. Gilbert has appreciated the assistance that Victoria has provided and is impressed with the rapport she has established with the students. Victoria says that her internship has reinforced her plan to become an elementary school teacher. She especially enjoys the relationships she has developed with the students in Ms. Gilbert’s class.

Brett Scott’s internship provider, Daron Eichenlaub—owner of Mad Momma Designs— says that Brett is learning all aspects of running an airbrush business. Brett’s responsibilities include taking new customer orders, helping customers, creating sample designs and painting customer orders. For Brett, the internship has provided an opportunity to gain more experience with airbrushing which is an art form he has pursued since he was 11 years old. As an 11 year old, Brett actually learned airbrushing techniques from Daron who was then employed by a local mall airbrushing business. When Brett discovered Mad Momma Designs, he took the initiative and asked Daron first for a job and then for an internship. Brett’s focus on accomplishing his goals will benefit him as he continues his education next fall as a business major and further develops his own airbrushing company, Rude Boy.

Aisha Majeed and Tanera Wilson are aspiring nurses who have spent the past three months working with Dr. Betty Braxter on a research project investigating the adolescent girls’ attitudes on dating relationships. Aisha and Tanera have prepared mailings for participants, called girls to confirm their attendance at group activities and accompanied the staff on recruitment efforts in local schools. During the “Take Health Professionals to the People” event, Aisha and Tanera had the opportunity to visits sites with staff from the School of Public Health’s Minority Health Center. They also participated in research team meetings and worked with various members of the research team. Because of their interest in clinical nursing, both girls met with Admissions Office representatives to learn the admissions process for Pitt’s School of Nursing.

Andrew Russell assisted Sara Ahrens and Nathan Schaeffer at the Student Conservation Association (SCA) which is an organization that provides students with opportunities to serve and protect national parks, forests and urban communities. The SCA in Pittsburgh has mentored many City High interns. Andrew worked on projects, organized and inventoried gear used in their outdoor activities and trainings, put together binders for training sessions, and worked with the staff on their recruiting activity at Manchester Craftsman Guild. Andrew also attended staff meetings and completed various office tasks. Ms. Ahrens and Mr. Schaeffer were impressed with the accuracy of Andrew’s record keeping and his regular and punctual attendance. Andrew was pleased with the internship because he is planning for a career in forestry.

Sheree Williams’ internship is at the Manchester Academic Charter School. Sheree, who aspires to a career in teaching, is working in the classroom of Kesete Thompkins, a third and fourth grade language arts teacher. Sheree has had a glimpse of what it takes to successfully manage an elementary school classroom through her experiences with “Mr. T.” She has given spelling tests, checked reading tests and homework assignments, coordinated her students’ pen pal project—letters to students in a Maryland elementary school, created bulletin boards, and decorated the classroom. In addition, she accompanied Mr. T and the class on a field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and had the opportunity to observe parent-teacher conferences.

At Maher Duessel, a Certified Public Accounting firm, Donte Dickey worked with three different staff members, allowing him to understand the diversity of departments that comprise the firm. He provided support to Gina Kuchta, Front End Coordinator, Jeannette Walshak, Administrative Manager, and Bobbi Lasto, Director, Client Relations. The theme of the site visit was “to know him is to love him.” Every person who interacted with Donte was impressed with his maturity and his ability to fit into the office very comfortably. The complexity of Donte’s responsibilities increased as the staff recognized his trustworthiness and dependability. He began with what may seem to be a mundane task—shredding—which in the accounting arena is actually a critical responsibility. Donte performed general accounting and office duties including scanning files and running reports. He eventually was entrusted with reconciliation of bank statements and taking deposits to the bank. He also gained knowledge of the language of accounting and actually worked on a project for one of Maher Duessel’s partners. The Maher Duessel staff has come to depend on Donte and consider him part of the office family. Consequently, his final activity will be attending the office Christmas party.

Ashley Schmidt’s mentor, Ms. Veronica Slain, is a second grade teacher at the Carlow Campus School. Ashley has had a very positive experience in her three months with Ms. Slain. Ms. Slain reports that Ashley is easy to work with and has contributed significantly to classroom planning and activities. She helps students with special projects and regular classroom work, grades math papers, creates bulletin boards and escorts students to the library and to the bus. This internship was a perfect match for Ashley who plans to pursue a career in elementary education.

RaLyn Wright's favorite activity is placing crystals on specific places of purses made at her internship site, Littlearth Productions, on Fifth Avenue across from the Birmingham Bridge. Her mentor, Ava DeMarco, is the co-founder of this company which specializes in purses, notebooks and other items made from license plates, and belts from tires and pop bottle caps. They just recently began a line of NFL items which have produced orders from all over the country. With the holiday season fast approaching, RaLyn has been kept busy in many areas of the business: making plates that are formed into purses, tagging articles to avoid illegal knock-offs, packing articles to prepare for shipping to working in Photoshop on lay-outs for their catalog and assisting graphic designer, Nikki Patriarco, in the design area.. Ava said that the most outstanding thing about RaLyn is that she is genuinely interested in everything she does, she is pleasant and personable, AND she asks questions. This pleases Ava and her Internship Manager! In the picture, RaLyn is on the left, Nikki in the center, and Ava is on the right and they are holding examples of three types of purses available by Littlearth Productions.

Some City High students already know people in high places before they begin their internships. This is the case with Rachael Madden, who is completing her internship with the Downtown Chapter of Rotary International. She lives two doors away from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's parents, and she knows the family very well. So when her mentor, Karen Alston, the Executive Director of the Club, told her that the mayor was speaking at the weekly Wednesday meeting on October 19th, they both thought that would be make a good picture for Rachael's internship site visit. Karen said that she brags to everybody about how well the two of them "click". Rachael is proactive, never sitting around waiting to be told what to do next. She is on time every day and stays late if it will help to get a project done. When they took pictures at the Halloween meeting, Rachael downloaded them to the computer for the weekly newsletter and for prints. Karen trusts her so much that she has given her a key to the office. Rachael says that she most enjoys seeing the Rotarians every week, greeting them and helping Karen set up for the meetings. Rachael even offered to go in to work with Karen during the December trimester break, which shows that she follows the Rotary's motto, "Service above Self".

When you hear Marvin Hamlisch announcing a George Gershwin concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony, think of Melanie Komosa, who is doing her internship there and who selected the music for the spot. Melanie's mentor is Claire Ertl, the Marketing Manager for the Symphony. She likes Melanie's flexible attitude and ability to fill in and work where the need arises in Group Sales and the Subscription Department. She has done a spread sheet with program links of their print advertising and has set up copy for "e-notes", the weekly newsletter. She also prepared templates of the artists' photos, and created a list of e-mail addresses for the newsletter. Melanie is considering the University of Alabama, which she visited while staying with relatives. She loves music and the entertainment aspect, but she is also thinking about teaching. Locally she is considering Robert Morris or Slippery Rock for schools closer to home.

City High has the first dental internship this trimester for Sara Kyles. She is working with Dr. L. Louis Lambros, Dana Palmieri, the dental hygienist, and Kedra Hall, dental assistant (seated in the picture). Sara says that her favorite activity at the office is watching Dr. Lambros working with patients; she is allowed to move around to get a better view as he works. Sara takes the initiative to check with everyone there to find something to observe or do, working with Pam Stewart, the receptionist, filing patient information. The patients like her and she told Dr. Lambros that "You have some interesting people here!" Her plan is to attend Temple University which has a good dentistry program. She states that it is not as bad as people think and she is very glad that she is there learning so much in preparation for her career.

Wayne Norman is the 4th intern at Family Links Inc., which is "a non-profit social service agency that provides mental health and mental retardation programs, youth and family development programs, adult community services, alcohol and other drug treatment, and school-based prevention services to children, families and individuals throughout southwestern Pennsylvania." He is enjoying his experiences with his mentor, Damian Martino, the Director of the Information Technology Department. Damian appreciates Wayne's respectful and motivated manner, and he has learned so much about the background Wayne brought with him from City High. A big project that Wayne completed was a licensing book containing the information on 1/2 million dollars’ worth of licenses that Family Links purchases for the work the 40 employees do. They must show any auditor or company representative that they are in compliance with the licensing agreements for the products they use. Failure to do that could result in heavy fines and imprisonment. Damian showed Wayne an article in TEQ Magazine that described how important Wayne's work was. Another responsibility that Wayne has, and the one he most enjoys, is troubleshooting. He goes to investigate the problem in the building, and then he calls Dell Computer techs to discuss the solution. Originally he could expect to be on the phone for hours; now that he knows the methods they use, he tries everything they could suggest first, then he gets to the center of things. This has cut down his discussion time by up to 200%. When Family Links gets new PC's, Wayne helps to ghost them and to keep all computers up to date with the software that is loaded on them. Damian wants to insure that Wayne gets a breadth of understanding of what an IT career can entail, with so many avenues to take for his career. Wayne really appreciates the occasions when the four men in the department sit and relax. Although he may not always understand what they are discussing, he is being exposed to the "lingo" and enjoying the camaraderie with people "in the business".

West Penn Hospital has been a wonderful source of hands-on experiences for City High interns interested in careers in the medical field. An example of this is Andrew Watkins and his internship with Edward Smith, a clinical nurse in the Emergency Room. In the beginning, Andrew helped with trays, beverages, and blankets for patients in the ER. He has progressed to setting up IV's for Ed, and he knows which types of tubes are used for various procedures when drawing blood. He has seen EKG's, pacemaker problems, stroke victims, and active heart attacks; recently he was allowed in the catheterization lab. Andrew has worked in the triage area, seen dialysis treatments, and he met a cancer patient who discussed his medical condition and the burns resulting from radiation treatments. Ed said "He's done more for me than the nursing students; he listens, watches and learns". Ed is a diabetic and he taught Andrew to inject his insulin for him (note the picture). He was formerly a paramedic and lived in Florida for many years; he recently moved to Pittsburgh to be near family. Andrew said he "wants to work with bones" as an orthopedic doctor or an osteopathic doctor. He was able to describe what each profession concentrates on, and he is very grateful for his experiences in the ER which have strengthened his commitment to go to Harvard and become a doctor. Special thanks are extended to Janey Miller, the Nurse Manager of the Emergency Room, for agreeing to allow Andrew to experience his internship at West Penn Hospital.

"Exactly what I needed" is a quote from Jaquala Lowery's mentor at Children's Hospital during her site visit on October 10, 2006. Terrilyn Crouch, the Coordinator of Volunteer Services at Children's, has been committed to the internship program from the first year, and Jaquala is her seventh intern! She has placed Jaquala in several areas to give diversity to her experience. Her week is divided into sessions of filing in the Employee Health Department, in the Neurology Department filing reports and starting new charts for the patients, and in the Volunteer Office. There she covers two programs in providing books to patients and families. For the "Bedtime Reading Program" she prepares a cart with books that she has wiped down and labeled for appropriate age groups. For the "Parent Reading Program" she assures that 3 areas are stocked with donated books that she has screened to determine if they are appropriate for a hospital setting. The books are made available in the Surgery waiting area, and two ICU areas. Jaquala said that her favorite experiences are in the Child Life Department, where she helps to fold donated blankets and put them in individual storage bags, and she checks donated toys to remove "chokable" items. She plans to become a neo-natal nurse; she was inspired by the birth of her cousin who was 1 lb., 5 oz. at birth, and is now a healthy, active three-year old. With her excellent workforce skills, pleasant demeanor and independent work ethic, she will be a great nurse!

For the past two years, Tony Ferrieri of City Theatre has provided internships for City High students. He is the Resident Set Designer & Director of Production and has provided exceptional experiences for our students. This trimester Liz Hillard was scheduled for an internship at the theater, and because of her interest in costumes and design, Tony placed her in the capable hands of Costume Shop Manager & Designer, Ange Vesco. Ange has been with City Theatre since 1992, and she is currently working on costumes for 6 plays which will be produced through during the Young Playwrights Festival. With this project she has been able to give Liz experience in wig fittings and learning how they match complexions with the hair color, fabric shopping, and pulling clothes and altering them from the wardrobe department for each show, based on costume needs. In the picture, they are looking through boxes of men's shoes for a particular size and style of shoe. She worked on props in September but didn't especially enjoy going into storage for things. She did learn how they match paint for items like knobs used on the set. Everything she has done has shown Liz how much goes on behind the scenes in theater. It "helped me see what a lot of people don't see". She wants to be a designer and hopefully have her own fashion line. Her mother makes prom dresses using the girl's ideas, and she got her start there. Her plans are to attend F.I.T. in New York, or Point Park or Robert Morris here in Pittsburgh. She has a background from "Thespians" in elementary school, all-state choir, ballet, tap and gymnastics to add to her experience in the entertainment field.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at West Penn Hospital is a very busy place where some of their patients are Infants of Substance Abusing Mothers (ISAM) who need to be held, as shown in the picture. Missy Bayerlein is holding a little girl who is growing strong enough to join her twin sister at home. Missy's mentor, Lisa Graper, is making sure that everything is situated properly for Missy to rock the baby and give her much-needed caring contact. This internship is preparing her for the nursing career she wants to pursue, possibly concentrating on neonatal care. Lisa described Missy as attentive, on time and articulate; she looks for work and she is well-liked by the staff. Missy seeks out opportunities to learn, joining rounds, visiting the Emergency Room and the Pediatrics floor, and learning to change preemies' diapers, which is a very delicate task. She also helped Lisa to prepare for a conference by organizing information and placing it in folders. She works with personnel schedule and attendance information and she recently made signs for Lisa using her computer skills. At the Nurses' Station she witnesses all the activity on the NICU, answers phones, takes messages, transfers calls, works with updating paperwork in the charts, and delivers syringes sent from the Pharmacy--all important tasks in the hospital. She does a lot of paper work with the Secretary of the unit and said she likes doing it. She is truly a part of the NICU team!