The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

Internships without Integrity?

Anastasha Echavarri

Staff Writer

This is the second of a three part series on the senior internship

Last year, several Westford Academy students were accused of abusing their privileges they were given during their senior internships. Although guidance and staff have caught on to this fact and went right to changing the rules so as to not repeat this, students tell us that not much has changed.

We interviewed senior student Lauren Lavallee and asked about her internship and its validation.

“I already have my internship approved. I’m going to help out the nurses around Westford. I’ll be with different nurses on different shifts, and I was accepted basically the day I asked,” said Lavallee.

Although Lavallee’s internship was readily accepted, other seniors aren’t having as easy a time in regards to receiving approval from their guidance counselors.

“Last year it was a lot more laidback… There were less check-ins and there were a lot of people that went to work and got paid instead of going to their internships,” said Lavallee.

Guidance has taken several precautions concerning the Senior Internship program, searching harder than ever for the validation of each senior’s internship.

Guidance counselor Wendy Pechacek told us that various meetings have taken place over the course of several months. Members of the school staff have taken the time to divide up the internships so that members at the head of the program would be able to look at a few internships at a time and evaluate them with greater accuracy.

Although guidance is fairly confident in their work, a few problems have managed to slip through the cracks.

“I’m just working at my family’s job—of course I’m getting paid for it. Everyone’s getting paid for it,” said an anonymous student.

Despite the changes made to the senior internship, it is clearly evident that several students within the halls of WA have still managed to find a loophole. As the integrity of the program is in question, so is the integrity of the students here at WA.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All WA Ghostwriter Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *