Students walk into the sweet smelling candy store they have entered plenty of times before. But today is different. Today they are getting an inside look into Lindale’s beloved Sweet Shop Today, as part of their Internship in Business Management class these students are learning more about how businesses operate.
“My students that are in [the class] love it,” teacher Jennifer King said. “They love being able to head out. They love making those relationships in the community and learning who those people are. Seeing them outside as they are out and about in Lindale has really given them a way to connect with our community that they didn’t do before.”
This is the first year the class has been introduced to the curriculum and it is a TJC dual credit course. Many students have taken prior business classes such as Business, Advertising, and Money Matters, but all students are eligible to participate in the Internship in Business Management class.
“Our business kids really wanted to get real world experience,” King said. “This a great way for them to be able to go out and see that in real life out in businesses in the Lindale area.”
The class partners with businesses across the Lindale area to shadow and intern. These businesses range from food to construction to beauty salons and many more.
“My favorite part is probably going out and experiencing all the different businesses that are out there and how they all work because everything is completely different,” senior Cannon Terry said. “My favorite place I have interned at is probably Allstate. I just really liked how they worked their stuff out and Mike Smith was a really interesting guy to talk to.”
This year the class has seven students who intern every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The students go to different business every week. In the future students will either decide to keep moving between business or pick one business that interests them to learn more about it.
“The most fun about this program is on Fridays the students come back and report on their business,” King said. “ It’s been really fun to hear them talk about the different industries and get their viewpoint on them.”
The program hopes to open up and have 14 to 16 students and many more business for the students to shadow.
Almost every owner that I have talked to is so excited to have the students come in and show them their business and what they do in the Lindale area. The biggest challenge is making those relationships, but it’s been a lot of fun. So next year we’ll have even more businesses involved I’m sure.
— King
Jason • Nov 29, 2022 at 9:15 am
Great article. Well written andinformative. It is good to see students working in “real world” situations.