Nine graduating seniors from Holyoke High School’s Dean Campus completed paid Co-op internship experiences this year—as did six Dean juniors—working in a variety of employment settings to gain invaluable experience in their fields of study.
Kiara Rosario, a graduating senior in Dean’s Programming and Web Development, has been working full-time every other week since spring in Holyoke Public Schools’ Communications Department while also balancing her classroom learning and homework on the alternating weeks. She was selected for the work-based learning experience because of her work ethic and her graphic design, web authoring, and photography skills.
“Kiara took on extensive responsibility for the district’s website, going through virtually every page looking for and addressing style inconsistencies, broken links, poor grammar, and outdated content,” said Communications Director Jennie Oesterreicher. “Her keen attention to detail and exemplary organizational skills served her well on this project. Kiara also worked with district staff to write and design several publications around key initiatives. One such project was a promotional flier to encourage bi-lingual staff to enroll in a free training to become qualified interpreters to help Holyoke Public Schools build its capacities to communicate with stakeholders who are not proficient in English. Kiara also helped develop and share school-level social media posts and took photos of a variety of school-based events and activities.”
With her June 1 graduation from Dean now in the rear-view mirror, Kiara is looking ahead to a paid work experience this summer with Holyoke Media, where she will focus on video production—similar to the work she completed as an intern at New England Public Media in Springfield during her junior year.
What’s next for this Rising Star from Holyoke? Kiara is headed to Bay Path University in Longmeadow this fall, where she plans to study forensic science as she prepares for a career in either ballistics or genealogy.