JCHS Graduate Receives Real-World Experience During Internship

Recent Joliet Central High School graduate Monica Cherrington (‘19) got a jump start on the practical application of engineering during a Summer Internship she completed before heading to Andrews University to major in architecture.

Cherrington’s internship through the Three Rivers Education Partnership (TREP) provided her with a Engineering Data Management position at Bunge Loders Croklaan, a B2B oil refinery facility that processes different types of oil for the food manufacturing industry globally. “Although it wasn't an architecture internship, I knew it would be good to be exposed to the engineering field, as it goes hand in hand with architecture,” said Cherrington. “While I was there I learned a lot, and to my surprise I was able to apply a lot of what I was taught in my CAD and architecture classes at Central to the job.”

In addition to the TREP Internship program, JTHS partnered with local businesses and organization to provide 33 paid work-based internships for students during the spring and summer of the 2018-2019 school year.

To prepare students for the rigors of the internship program, JTHS offers a wealth rigorous core and elective courses, which include Dual Credit and Advanced Placement. “I would encourage students to take the Dual Enrollment classes,” said Cherrington. “The Dual Enrollment drafting class helped me free up my schedule and saved me money. I am so glad I took it. Now that I am in college, knowing Revit, AutoCAD, and Adobe has made me a lot more prepared than other students.”

JTHS continues to work with local businesses to expand internship opportunities. On September 24, two community presentations will be held to recruit new community and business partners. Both presentations will take place at the JTHS Administrative Center, 300 Caterpillar Drive in Joliet, with the first presentation from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and the second presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Community and business partners interested in attending one of the presentations can register using the following link: https://www.jths.org/district-programs/jths-partnerships/internship-recruitment-event. Contact Brett Marcum, Director of Strategic Partnerships at bmarcum@jths.org or call (815) 727- 1692 with questions.