Internships at The Post Oak School: Education Beyond the Classroom

The Post Oak School offers a variety of internship opportunities that allow high school students to gain real world perspectives and develop their passions. According to the school’s website, over 75 percent of Post Oak's High School students choose to participate in the internship program. I thought it would be interesting to interview three students with vastly different internships and how their experiences have opened their eyes to potential future careers.

Josey Gregg is a sophomore interested in working in linguistics and in the “behind the scenes” work of producing written material. She interns at Writespace, a literary arts organization that supports local writers by hosting events and writing workshops. The program provides high quality writing instruction to individuals unable to afford a college degree in the arts. Josey works to promote the organization on social media and creates posters to prepare for their events. She has an additional internship at 6ft Press, an entertainment and production center that releases books, video games, and films. By reading through material, Josey finds award opportunities that their content is eligible for and does background research to help the author. This opportunity has revealed to Josey various careers that could utilize her love of writing.

Carly Gregg, on the other hand (and opposite side of the gene pool), prefers a scalpel to a pencil. With an interest in science and medicine, this current senior shadows a pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children’s Hospital. As a part of this internship, she puts on scrubs and observes minimally invasive heart surgeries. Not only has she learned about cardiology and different types of congenital heart diseases, she has familiarized herself with how hospitals operate. Through her internship, she can come up with questions to bring back to her IB biology class. She says, “This internship has shown me that the field of medicine is something I want to consider for a career.”

Luke Kirchner has a different view. He likes the idea of literally making money and has an internship creating a Rice graduate course on block chain cryptocurrency. A sophomore, he works with Mr. Manolo Sanchez, former Chairman and CEO of BBVA Compass, and fellow student Connor Morley, to create a 300-page presentation on cryptocurrency. The curriculum will result in a three-day workshop taught by Mr. Sanchez. This educationally rich opportunity has given Luke valuable skills in crafting presentations as well as expanded his knowledge on a developing industry. Luke says, “By combining my interests of business and entrepreneurship, this internship has allowed me to explore my passions further.” 

Breaking down the walls of the classroom provides students with the opportunity to gauge their interests in various careers before deciding on a major or choosing a university. The Post Oak School’s partnerships with neighboring institutions in the Museum District have evolved into internship opportunities for students. Students keep an updated blog reporting on their internships. Read more about other student’s internships here.