Thanks to an investment from the Governor's Office of Workforce Transformation, Licking Heights Local Schools will provide 10 high school students with real-life experience and on-the-job technology training.

The High School Tech Internship program reimburses employers in Ohio that host high school interns in technology-focused positions. According to the Education Service Center of Central Ohio, “The goal of the High School Tech Internship program is to provide businesses with the tech talent they need while also providing students with valuable work experience at an early age.”

The interns will work with Heights’ district technology team, a five-person internal office servicing the day-to-day cybersecurity and technology operations of all schools and buildings PreK-12. Interns will function as entry-level tech employees and learn in-demand skills like data, cloud and IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, broadband/5G and advanced mobility.

Meet the inaugural class of Licking Heights technology interns:

—Emily McCord, senior
—Albert Holland, senior
—Zoe Kubinsky, junior
—Brooks Girum, junior
—Himanshu Mandal, junior
—Brent Mathias, sophomore
—Lucas Wells, sophomore
—Alex Bastola, sophomore
—Alina Mangeni, sophomore
—Lily Wahl, freshman

Some students, like McCord and Kubinsky, hope the internship will lead them to future opportunities in cybersecurity. After graduating, McCord will attend The Ohio State University for Computer Science and Engineering so she can become a Cloud security analyst. In her internship, she will help transition the district to a Cloud database.

Other students, like Mandal, plan to use their internship to gain the necessary experience for working with Central Ohio companies like Intel. Mandal is interested in chip research and manufacturing, and wants to work as an engineer at Intel after attending college.

Licking Heights Local Schools sincerely thanks the Office of Workforce Transformation for providing both students and the district with opportunity.