Future Social Workers, Present Impact: Inside School-Based Health Internships

In this episode of the School Health Connection Podcast, host Hector Murrieta welcomes three graduate social work interns who are making a meaningful difference in school-based health centers across the Inland Empire. Evelyn Paredes Topete, Naive Contreras, and Michell Perez Landeros share their journeys into social work, their day-to-day responsibilities, and the profound relationships they build with students.

The conversation highlights the critical role interns play in expanding mental health access, addressing basic needs, and supporting the “whole child.” From combating chronic absenteeism to connecting families with food, housing, transportation, and healthcare resources, these emerging professionals offer a firsthand look at the challenges students face — and the interventions that help them thrive.

Where to find the School Health Connection Podcast:
SBCSS Website, Buzzsprout, Spotify, iHeart and Amazon Music
School-based Health Center information: California School-Based Health Alliance Visit Inland Empire School Health Coalition to join the Coalition Check out past recorded webinars on School-Based Health Centers: 2023-2024 2022-2023.
For more information on Healthy SBCSS, visit www.healthysbcss.net or contact Ms. Farrah Northcott, RD, Director, Healthy SBCSS by calling 909.386.2775 To contact today’s podcast host, please email: hector.murrieta@sbcusd.k12.ca.us If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

Transcript

Future Social Workers, Present Impact: Inside School-Based Health Internships

Intro Music

[00:00:00] Hector: Hello and welcome to episode seven of the School Health Connection Podcast. My name is Hector Murrieta, and I am your host. I am also the proud principal of Sierra High School in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. A deep and heartfelt thank you to the California School-Based Health Alliance and the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools for making this podcast possible.

Our Inland Empire School Health Coalition has nearly 400 members. The purpose of the coalition is to expand and support the school-based health center movement and to facilitate greater engagement, investment, and proliferation of school health services, all of which equate to greater access for youth.

In brainstorming topics for this year's slate of episodes, our steering committee wanted to give everyone an opportunity to hear from student interns, that is college interns working on their certification hours at [00:01:00] a school-based health center. Interns play a crucial role in the success of school-based health centers, and we hope that our listeners take away some great learnings, for example: school-based health centers can serve as excellent places for workforce development, not only to help train the next generation of health and mental health care providers, but to address the workforce shortages that we all experience, especially for more professionals who look and come from communities of highest need and reflect our student populations.

Today we are joyful to have three guests that are currently interning at school-based health centers. Evelyn Paredes Topete. She's a social work intern at Sierra High School. Naive Contreras is also a social work intern at the Inland Career Education Center, and Michell Perez Landeros is a social work intern currently at Thompson Elementary School and formally at Sierra High School.

We hope you enjoy. Welcome ladies. 

[00:01:56] All: Hi. Hello. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us.

[00:01:59] Hector: No, thank [00:02:00] you for being here. As I said earlier, your work is crucial at school-based health centers and two of you, I had the privilege, well currently have the privilege of working with you, Evelyn and Michell.

We worked last semester together, so I mean, I can speak from experience that the work you all do is, is crucial. So our listeners can get to know you a little better, please share with us what graduate degree program you're in, how it's going, and how you got there. We'll start over here with you Michell. 

[00:02:27] Michell: Okay, so my name is Michell, I'm currently with Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health. I'm getting my master's in social work, and it's going really well. I'm getting to learn a lot about different interventions to use with clients. Getting to work at Sierra was really fun. I learned how so many different groups and organizations get together to help the students in one place. So it was really nice to see them get all the resources they needed there. Um, and I've been able to take that into my learning as well. So [00:03:00] I've appreciated the opportunity so far. 

[00:03:03] Hector: Welcome and thank you. Thank you. Alright, next. 

[00:03:06] Evelyn: Yes, my name is Evelyn and I am currently pursuing my master's in social work at California State University of San Marcos.

Um, so this really was a great opportunity for me to intern here because what really got me there was seeing school push out rates and then seeing, um, a lot of kids not finish their high school careers. And so when I was in my undergrad researching those things in all my ethnic studies courses, I really saw the impact.

And I already knew I wanted to pursue school social work. So this was just a great opportunity and I'm glad my school got to connect me here to this district. 

[00:03:42] Hector: Wonderful. Well, welcome And, and thank you. And finally, Naive. 

[00:03:47] Naive: Yeah, hi. Um, nice to meet you. I am Naive Contreras. I'm 22 years old. I am from Inglewood, California. I received my bachelor's in sociology from University of California Riverside. And I am [00:04:00] currently, um, studying with Michelle at Loma Linda University for my master's in social work. And so I am currently interning at a adult school and it's been a very interesting dynamic for me because. It's the first time I intern, um, anywhere, uh, and, and get to exercise the field of social work.

And so to be faced with adults and, uh, you know, real life problems that are happening, especially in a city that is very under-resourced and an education system that is very under-resourced it has to been a great privilege and a very interesting, um, experience. 

[00:04:35] Hector: Wonderful. Welcome and thank you. And actually, that's a great segue. So we're gonna start with you because, uh, the next we want our listeners to, to learn from you is what is the scope of your internship, you know, this year. What are you assigned to do? So specifically, and you kind of got into that. yeah. What, what is a day to day might look like? Um, and, and we'll get to all of you, but we'll start with you Naive, 'cause you kind of jumped into it already.

[00:04:58] Naive: So a day to [00:05:00] day it would look like meeting with the students that I've been meeting with previously. So just checking in with them, making sure that they are good to go. You know, my, my first concern is their safety, making sure that they are prepared to start their class for the day. And from there they'll communicate with me about their, uh, needs or if they need any resources, things like that.

And, um, I'll do a lot of collateral work, so reaching out to resources and programs. I'll also do a lot of documentation, um, just to make sure that we have history and keeping, um, track of our students just so that whenever someone comes and takes my position of social work, they'll have, you know, history to go off of.

Yeah. So that, that's what my day to day would look like. And I also have a lot of, per, not personal, but I would say very close connection with the students. And so I've been interning there for five months. And so it's been a very, uh, close relationship that I've built with these students. And so it's [00:06:00] exciting to see them every day.

And I know that they're just as excited to see me because they greet me every day like, Hey, good morning. I've been looking, um, forward to seeing you today. Or, um, when are you coming again? And so I can tell that they're, they're very enthusiastic about it. 

[00:06:14] Hector: Yeah. Thank you Naive. And you're definitely in a unique situation in that you're at, uh, an adult school. The Inland Career Education Center is an adult school. Yeah. You don't see that too often. So congratulations to you and, and the folks there and the work you're doing. 

[00:06:27] Naive: Thank you. 

[00:06:28] Hector: Uh, Evelyn, tell us your story at, at uh, Sierra. What's, what's day to day look like there for you? What do you do? Yeah, what do you got going on this year as part of your internship? 

[00:06:36] Evelyn: So right now it's a lot of just assessing, um, students that have need for intervention. So whether they request it or whether a staff member or their family requested it for them, kind of looking into that and seeing where I could be of support and introducing them to the wellness center and what we provide there.

So if they wanna see someone that's licensed in therapy or if they wanna go to the tutoring sessions, or if they wanna do check-ins with me. So if they [00:07:00] do, if they decide to do check-ins with me, there. I'm assigned a caseload of students and I essentially just assess, um, where they need help. So if sometimes they just need a friend to talk to, I could be there for that. If they need other resources or if they need anything for their success academically, I'm there to support and provide the resources for them. 

[00:07:19] Hector: Got it. Thank you. Alright, Michell. 

[00:07:23] Michell: So I also recently started at Thompson Elementary, um, and it was a shift going from Sierra High School to Thompson. But what I really enjoy that I'm experiencing now is how quickly I'm, I was able to build rapport with the students. Um, so that was really exciting to see how quickly, um, you could build the rapport, get the connection to start working on other interventions. Um, currently my day-to-day looks like calling in students that, um, are struggling with day-to-day things, whether it be academically or family wise or behaviorally.

Um, we sit down, do [00:08:00] some interventions, document everything that's going on. Um, we also manage with my preceptor any fights or any, um, behavior, things that are going on in other groups outside of my caseload. Um, so we could do, um, interventions with them as well. And I also started doing groups. So currently I started my friendship group, just kind of trying to get to teach the students how to build relationships, how to socialize and connect them to the resources if they need to.

During the check-ins is also a great way to get to know what their needs are. Um, so getting them connected to a therapist if they need to see a therapist, if they need housing, if they're having trouble getting to school, connecting them with transportation. So just getting, getting in every part of the student's life that we can to help them academically success.

[00:08:48] Hector: Thank you. Thank you ladies. Uh, yes. And you know, I'm sure our listeners are wondering, you know, this is great because it is, as I said, it's, it's a crucial role that you play because many [00:09:00] schools don't have a you on the campus, you know, so having said that, you have somebody that's supervising your hours.

So I'm sure our, our listeners like to know what's that experience like, you know, we will have each of you share what's it like, uh, you know, what does that look like, reporting what you're doing to the person that's, uh, supervising your hours. Uh, we'll start with Evelyn. I'm, I'm, I'm looking, uh, at you, describe that. 

[00:09:27] Evelyn: Yeah. So at the site I have, Yesenia. So she is a school counselor there and she is someone that I can go to for supervision on a daily basis when I'm there. And I also have a social work supervisor that is connected to my school. Um, so he's the one that communicates everything back and forth.

Um, his name is Chris Cason. He is, um, a social worker and. What that looks like with him is he actually has me do separate documentation. So on top of documentation that I do for the school records, I do documentation with him. [00:10:00] So I track my hours and then I track, um, any things that I had with students.

So if I met with the student, if I met with parents, things like that, he has me track those separately. And then every week we meet once for an hour and we kind of discuss any issues. So we discuss ethics, um, any interventions that I may need or any assistance I need, um, with the students, he's there to provide support.

[00:10:21] Hector: Well, thank you. Um, Naive, what's your experience like so far with that supervision? 

[00:10:27] Naive: Yeah, so my supervisor is Theresa Ramos and she is currently in the position of a counselor at ICEC, and she helps me with a lot of the challenges I come across, or if I feel insecure about the way that I am working with a student, I, um, run it by her and, and take her, her recommendations or her, uh, teachings. We do do supervision. You know, we make sure we do at least a minimum of one hour a week. We usually do around two hours, two hours every week, I'd say. And she, her and I [00:11:00] set up a learning plan so we can stay on task with my objective through the semester.

And it's things like making sure that I build rapport with my students and, uh, building a, a way that I'm gonna practice the micro, mezo and the macro work. So one thing that we've built or we've created together is, uh, executive functioning skills Group workshops. I know that's a mouthful. But, um, so that workshop is basically trying to teach our students uh, life skills are, they're gonna use day to day, so taking initiative, um, emotional regulation, things like that. And so, yeah, she, she has, um, taught me a lot and she is a great example of, uh. Uh, 'cause she also has a, a master's in social work, or sorry, I should say she's a licensed clinical social worker as well.

So she has a lot under her belt already. [00:12:00] She, she's had experience with CPS and stuff like that, so any question that I have of bigger, bigger cases, I'm like, Hey, how does that work? How does that get documented? She's there to help me. 

[00:12:08] Hector: Yeah. The real work. 

[00:12:09] Naive: Exactly. Yeah. 

[00:12:10] Hector: Real worry. Very good. Michelle. 

[00:12:13] Michell: Yes. So I also have a preceptor at Thompson Elementary. She is Anna Gonzalez. Um, she's a school counselor there, so I am able to get her feedback. Um, sometimes she already has, um, presentations created that I can follow for the students. Um, she ran me through some of the interventions that she uses, so I'm able to bounce back to her. Ask her, how can I better use this intervention if this isn't working, what else could we use for the student?

So getting her feedback on a day-to-day basis is really helpful. Um, and then Chris Caston is also my, uh, supervisor that I meet with once a week for an hour. Um, and with him we always keep confidentiality, um, especially in the documentation, but we do go into the specific cases that we're dealing with or questions we have or [00:13:00] how. What can be done to help the school system? Um, so a lot of the things that we usually talk about is legal, ethical concerns. Um, if there's a program that we saw somewhere else, how can we get that implemented into that school? Um, I know he wanted to make a wellness room for, um, Thompson Elementary. So that's a conversation we've been having with Ms. Gonzalez as well.

Um, so yeah, just getting those connections, understanding if I have any questions, they're always there to support. Um, and then always relating it back to what we're learning in class. So currently I'm taking a groups class and starting my friendship group, I'm able to take what I'm learning in class. Do it and with the students that I'm working with and then connecting back with my supervisor and my preceptor and getting their input, their information on what could be done better, um, what things I'm learning in class I can implement. So all of that feedback is always really helpful. 

[00:13:55] Hector: That's a full-time job.

[00:13:56] Michell: Yes. 

[00:13:56] Hector: That's a, that's a lot. You have two bosses. You know, you have to [00:14:00] report to somebody at school and then back at, uh, at, at the school site, and then back at your university and then all the different responsibilities you have to do. So I hope our listeners are picking up that, um. You know, uh, interns, uh, you get to do a lot of the needed work.

This is needed, you know, students need this and many times, school sites, um, you've probably seen the counselors, they many times can't get to this, which is, it's critical. So to that point, that's a great segue. A lot of you have mentioned challenges, uh, and even, even before we were online, uh, Michelle, you were mentioning that one of the issues you discovered, for example, at Sierra High School is attendance. You know, one of the difficulties was, you know, you're there to service students and support their mental health needs, but you can't do it if they're not there.

So, uh, for our listeners, please describe what are the challenges you're noticing, uh, especially, uh, as students, you're closer in age [00:15:00] to many of the students than many of us are. Uh, what are, what are the challenges that you're noticing? And, we'll, we'll, we'll start with you, Michell, since you were kind of leading into that. 

[00:15:08] Michell: Yeah, of course. So, um, at Sierra, one of the main things was the chronic absenteeism. Um, but once you got that one day, the student was there during one period, you called them out during that time and you're like, Hey, I know you've been missing.

Do you have 10, 15 minutes so you could sit down, talk to me, what's going on, what's been happening? How can I best support you to get to school? What's keeping you from here? You start having those conversations. You start being consistent and you let them know, Hey, I'll be here this day, this day, and this day at these hours.

Come see me. You start seeing the difference. They start having someone that they can go to and then their attendance starts getting a little bit better. They start getting a little bit more involved in school and seeing that change was really good, but it's always a challenge. You don't always get that reassurance that they will, A lot of the students won't [00:16:00] go and see you.

Um, but always trying your best in putting the intent that there is an option here, and knowing that you're trying your best as well to reach the students. And I think also another challenge, at least for me was seeing how not all the students have access to certain programs.

So going to Thompson, um there's students that may need to go into having an individualized education plan and IEP, and sometimes they don't qualify for it. So they're still in the regular classrooms and they're not receiving the attention that they need to excel in their academics. So having that struggle with getting, trying to get them accepted, but also helping them while they're in a classroom where they're not understanding has been a challenge that we're currently dealing with.

[00:16:54] Hector: Right. Yeah. Thank you for that. Oh, yeah. That, that's, uh, yeah, we see that unfortunately, [00:17:00] we see that all too often. Um, Evelyn, how about you? What challenges are you noticing or are you facing? 

[00:17:06] Evelyn: I think I've noticed a lot of just stability. So whether that be with housing or like, like food resources that they can get to, and I think that comes into play at schools because they're not motivated.

They're focusing on survival. If you think of like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, they don't have their basic needs met. So when they're at school, they're just kind of letting the day go by. And they're not really focused on their studies. So it's super important to ensure that these students find a sense of belonging and find the resources at the school.

And that's what's great about Sierra. We have like the produce, um, deliveries that they do so they can come pick up, uh, fresh produce and they also provide many resources at the wellness center. So whatever students have concerns with, we do our best to support them. And a lot of it is just getting them connected. And so once they find that source of connection, they feel safe and then they can thrive in the [00:18:00] school setting. 

[00:18:00] Hector: Yeah. Thank you for that. Uh, Naive, what challenges are you seeing are, are facing? 

[00:18:04] Naive: Yeah, so just like Michell mentioned earlier, attendance is a big one. Um, it's a bit different in with the demographic that I work with because they're all adults.

So in adult life you come across a lot of problems like, um. More responsibilities when you have kids. Um, need of transportation, things like that. So attendance is, um. I can see it, you know, fluctuate during the weeks, and I'm like, Hey, I, you know, I asked the students what's going on? Why, why didn't you come yesterday?

And then they explain situations like, oh, I couldn't catch the bus. Oh, I had to go to the doctors and I didn't have anyone to take care of my children. And so it's a bunch of, um, situations that come up in, in adulthood. And so I think this is where social work is, um, intervening and taking things into your own hands.

Like, okay, how can we get you free access to, uh, a bus if you don't have, you know, the, um the finance for, um, a bus pass or a car, things like that. [00:19:00] Um, so that's where I notice a lot of challenges in my work. Another challenge is when reaching out to these programs or services, oftentimes they won't have a response.

Um, so there's been situations where I've referred students to mental health, um, systems or telehealth, things like that, and I asked, I try to reach with them later, or check in with them a week later. I'm like, Hey, how did that session go? Did you end up attending? They're like, no, they never reached out.

And so that's where a lot of challenges come, come in. And I have to do a lot of, um, reaching out to the resources themselves or the programs and saying like, Hey, I refer a student to you. You haven't sent them an update. What's going on? So it's a lot of back and forth.

And another, uh, challenge I've came across is, um, there's this weird like, uh, middle class, uh, students that don't necessarily fit into the deserving or the undeserving. And so they're kind of like in this, in this space where they're not being helped, but yet they're expected to put their input into, [00:20:00] um, society. Like, oh, you, you have the funds, you have the means. Go ahead and put your little 2 cents. But then again, they're not being helped because they might make too much financially, um, to be, uh, helped by, uh, like things like food stamps or, or, yeah.

So that's. That's another, um, intervention of social work that I've, I've noticed is a big challenge. 

[00:20:20] Hector: That's fascinating. Yeah. Like if, uh, yeah, sometimes it's assumed that certain students won't have, you know, mental health issues or they won't have other issues that they have to deal with.

Uh, that's fascinating work. Uh, ladies, thank you. And, and to that point, so you know what I'm hearing, and I hope our listeners, I'm sure they are, relationships, connection. These are things that you've said constantly. Uh, even if you haven't used those words, that's pretty clear. The connectivity, the connection piece. The relationship piece, so you know, school-based health centers and school, you know, mental health.

You know, right now it's, it's kind of going through a time where people have to be convinced and when, I mean, people like school [00:21:00] administrators or administration needs to be convinced that it, it needs either funding or attention because, you know, schools aren't, or students aren't, well, they're probably not gonna, the likelihood that they'll do well in school is it drops.

So how would you, in, in, in the, the scope of the work that you've done, if, what would you recommend to administrators or school districts about the importance, the need for school-based health centers and the work that you see and do at the schools? We'll start with you, Naive. 

[00:21:35] Naive: So I would emphasize that the word education isn't only for academics. Education can be for life skills, like I mentioned earlier, for mental health awareness and going back to the demographic I work with with adults, oftentimes. The older adults, they were raised in a society where mental health wasn't so prevalent or it wasn't so normalized.

So when you [00:22:00] introduce these topics to them, it's kind of hard or difficult for them to process the, the, the term, like, what is mental health? So I think that, uh, something important to implement would be just the education and the meaning of mental health itself and defining that with students and not just adults, just, you know, K through 12, middle school, high school, making sure that they understand that mental health is also crucial in order to succeed in academics because, uh, if you don't, you know, there's a lot of underlying mental health.

Uh, just, uh, problems like, uh, depression, anxiety, things like that, that aren't addressed because of the, of that, like the unknown of the, the not knowing what mental health is and, and also the services that like, uh, students aren't aware of the services. So 

[00:22:42] Hector: Yeah, like the misconception sometimes. Yeah.

Wonderful. Thank you. Evelyn, what would you recommend or how would you convince somebody of, of the, the, the absolute need for this? 

[00:22:53] Evelyn: Yeah. So coming from a social work perspective, we look a lot at the biopsychosocial uh, perspective, [00:23:00] kind of looking at is there biological needs met? Do they have healthcare, do they have, um, assistance with dental?

Um, they're psychological. Are they okay mentally? And then they're social. Like are they socializing? Are they having issues within themselves that they need to work through? A lot of those things. And that's what school-based health centers really do. They assess those, all those different, um, areas of need and they provide resources.

So they provide dental. They connect them with insurance, they help them with, um, mental health. They help them receive food. So all of those things that a basic human would need to live and to do well and prosper, that's what our school-based health centers really address. And so that's super important because these kids are so bright, they have so much potential, and sometimes they just fall through the cracks because they're missing their needs.

[00:23:49] Hector: Right. Right. And this is coming from somebody that you probably didn't graduate from high school too long ago, you know? And so you're, you're very close to that. Yeah. I mean, and now you're actually studying that. Thank you. Yeah. [00:24:00] Michell, what would you say to an administrator or a school? 

[00:24:02] Michell: So, I think touching on the topics that Naive and Evelyn mentioned, it's really important to be able to provide services for a student, especially when they themselves don't know what they need.

So just having a resource there where they could explore, learn, educate themselves, get guidance into the crazy life that many of us live through. It's easy to get lost, it's easy to get, get fall in the cracks like Evelyn said. So it's having that resource to avoid that, and it could start with K through 12.

It could start with teaching the children coping skills, how to socialize, how to communicate their needs, and how to connect their families to resources at a beginning stage to not let it get, as far as how I saw in Sierra, or it was the students didn't know if they had insurance or not. We had to [00:25:00] connect them with IEHP.

We're making groups of teaching them what does IEHP mean? What does it cover? How do you make a call to a doctor? Do your parents know? Okay, let's talk about that. Let's talk about resources. Did you know that you could come get free food? Let's get you those resources. And it helps a lot with their education because when you're coming from home worried about what am I gonna eat?

How am I gonna get home? I have to pick up, drop off my siblings. How are they going to focus in class? So it's addressing those needs. And one of the things that, um, Ms. EVAs had mentioned as well that really stuck with me was having the wellness center is a general term for everything that they do. So when they say, I need to go to the wellness center, they're not being specific for what they need.

So it keeps their confidentiality, it keeps their dignity, and they could go in there confidentially and ask for what they need to ask for. I think that's really, really impactful. 

[00:25:55] Hector: Absolutely. And to that point, ladies, thank you. Yeah, no, no argument [00:26:00] here. Um, you know, it occurred to me to ask, uh, so our, again, our listeners, hopefully we have schools, uh, school district folks listening.

Most schools, all of 'em, I think especially high schools, have counselors. I mean, you are supervised by a counselor. Here's a question for you. I'm just curious to hear from you. Could the counselor that's supervising each one of you. Do their job of counseling, you know, 'cause they have to talk to kids about transcripts and grade at the high school level anyways, transcripts, grades, which college you're going to, scholarships.

All of those things that are, again, equally important. Could they do everything you described from what you've observed? Could they do everything you described, including all of that work? If they didn't have somebody like you? Uh, Naive. 

[00:26:47] Naive: So I would say no. Uh, simply because of the workload and social work. There's a lot of, of, there's a, a holistic. A holistic [00:27:00] view to the student. So it's a lot of deeper insight and personal, um, relationships. Like, uh, getting to know them on a closer level, their family and, and more, uh, what their needs are other than school. And so to be able to balance both would be very difficult.

Counselors do a lot of the academics and the transcripts and the FAFSA in college and you know, and so it's hard to focus on, on both. I would also say it's not the same for the student as well, because the student goes to the, you know, they have this, this preset idea that the counselor is there for their academic needs, and so when you need that other uh, that other emotional support or social emotional support need, you would need to find, um, that other person that you can connect with on that deeper level. Because I think that you can't mix both of them. It would, it would be too much, I believe. 

[00:27:54] Hector: Definitely a, yeah. Workload issue for sure. Uh, Evelyn. 

[00:27:59] Evelyn: Definitely [00:28:00] not looking at like the whole child perspective. Um, counselors do focus on all the academic stuff and to add the rest of the student needs would just be a lot, and it would just lead to burnout. There's not enough resources, there's not enough, um, time for these counselors to be doing all of that work. So that's what's great about, you know, having interdisciplinary work.

You have other people to bounce off on. You can connect students to different resources, different people that will focus on different needs. So definitely not. 

[00:28:29] Hector: Absolutely. Alright, Michell? 

[00:28:30] Michell: Yes, I agree with both Evelyn and Naive. It would be very difficult for someone to handle it all on their own. Like thinking about it, even in a family unit, you're still resourcing seeing who could do what at what time.

You can't expect one person to be in charge of hundreds of children at the same time, and it's important to not let them fall through the cracks. It's important to address every need that they have and not just focus on academics. Okay? Um, you're failing this in this class. Let's get you in [00:29:00] here. If you don't pass this class, we need to add this to your transcript.

That in itself, managing. What student is going into what class is a workload, and then on top of that, trying to find resources, making sure that you're still connecting. Like I even mentioned, following up with the organizations, Hey, have you reached out to my student or not? It's hard. And then they're also contacting parents, so it's like trying to manage all that time would not be, yeah. 

[00:29:25] Hector: Oh yeah. Agreed. I, I mean, I've seen it in my many years as as principal. And what I also notice is that counselors like, it, it almost seems like it hurts their soul because they do wanna do these things, so they know it's important, but then they have all these other things that are, again, equally important 'cause your kids need to graduate and, you know, do all those things.

But, uh, so it almost like, I, it almost seems like it hurts them. So again, it just kind of goes to the value that you bring. To the work because you get to do that very important piece, which is that, you know, again, it connects the kid to school. [00:30:00] Very good. So, as we close, ladies, you know, as you think about your future, where do you see yourselves, you professionally, you know, after, you know, you leave your schools here and you finish your programs, where, where do you see yourselves in a professional capacity?

Uh, Evelyn. 

[00:30:14] Evelyn: Definitely within the education system. So I want to graduate hopefully next year. That's about the time I should graduate. Um, so after that, definitely wanna continue within the, the scope of education. So whether that's working as a school social worker, or even in other positions within higher education too, because a lot of these first gen students are struggling and that's where kids need support.

We wanna push those kids ahead. 

[00:30:36] Hector: Absolutely. Absolutely. Michell. 

[00:30:37] Michell: So aside from my internship, I do currently work at a domestic violence shelter. Wow. Um, and. Where I see myself focusing on after I graduate would be getting this, all this information, all these resources that I've gained, all these interventions, and helping the students, the children that we have at the shelter. Because we do focus a lot on, on the families that are coming in, the adults, [00:31:00] getting them through the trauma and helping them emotionally, physically, financially, getting them set up with a plan as to what comes next for them.

But we often forget that they're bringing children with them, and we also need to address. The shift in the children's life when they're being moved from school to school and now they're living in emergency shelter. So definitely getting more into the victim services part of social work. 

[00:31:25] Hector: Yeah, absolutely.

And then we expect those kids to come to school and learn. It's powerful. Thank you. Uh, Naive. 

[00:31:32] Naive: Yeah, so I see myself working in the medical field of social work. I think it's a profession that doesn't get enough attention or enough recognition. A lot of people actually aren't aware of the profession, and so I see myself working in a kind of fast-paced environment.

That's what I've noticed that medical, social work is kind of known for and being. A help not only for the patients, but also for the patient's family. Um, you get a deeper insight from that point of view. Um, not only [00:32:00] medical, social work, but also maybe opening up my own nonprofit organization, um. 

[00:32:07] Hector: To support schools.

[00:32:10] Naive: Yes. If I were to start or begin a nonprofit organization, I would focus on the homelessness population. Mm-hmm. Especially here in Los Angeles. Um, and so just helping them and guiding them back into society. 

[00:32:24] Hector: Well, ladies, thank you. And, and I wanna do a shout out to all interns out there that are listening that are, you know, we're talking to three right now, three talented young ladies, but there are a lot of interns out there that are doing this valuable work to my colleagues out there, just other school folks.

You know, you heard it from me, but you heard it from three young ladies, the value of the work of student interns. So I wanna encourage, uh, to our listeners, uh, whether you're at a school supporting a school, it's about partnerships. Partnering with local universities, with local organizations that have people that are preparing, you know, like you, uh, young ladies that are here with us [00:33:00] that are preparing to do this work.

You know, it's a valuable resource that they provide, uh, to our students at our schools. Uh, so again, to our listeners, tap into those partnerships, to those universities. And again, uh, ladies, thank you for joining us today for, for sharing your, your, uh, experiences and your. Your value, uh, your wisdom. Uh, and again to our listeners, I also want to extend an immense thank you for joining us and, and sharing this information with others, and we'll see you next time on the next episode of School Health Connection.

Exit music