Customer service, janitorial skills and knowing their way around the dodge ball court are just some of the abilities the student interns at Sycamore Park Community Center are demonstrating while completing their internships this summer.
The recreational space hosts a large group of children each day, from early elementary ages to preteen, that the four interns are interacting with. The interns are under different programs including the Summer Enrichment Intern from San Juan County and Navajo Nation Workforce Workers.
Xoe Happy, Bella Brown and Malachi Lee are interns from different chapter houses on the reservation. For Brown and Lee, the community center is familiar setting having served in previous years.
Happy, who is with the Nageezi chapter, said she had some interest in the internship and the program has made her feel like she is making a difference with the kids that she interacts with.
The interns begin their day with cleaning the center before the arrival of the kids. On Thursday, they wiped windows and tables as the center started to sound more lively as kids were getting checked in by 9 a.m.
As the day goes on, the interns are tasked with activities and occasional field trips. Whitney Slaugh, San Juan County intern, said the kids enjoy the physical activities such as dodge ball, musical dots, and cross court.
A game like cross court requires team work and communication with the kids having to run in directions as a team, said Slaugh.
Interacting with the kids has taught her to have patience, she said, with some needing more attention than others in those tense situations.
“I want to teach them not bad things but good things,” Slaugh said. A conversation on the planets she recently had with the kids circled around the gases found on stars.
For Happy and Brown, seeing the kids smile is a sign that the work they do is paying off.
During a morning cleaning session, Happy said she noticed some kids who were dropped off early playing at the foosball table and joined in.
“We started playing and it was so fun because they were all laughing,” she said about the experience.
Outside of the childcare, the interns have also gained skills working the front desk, such as speaking with adults and file work.
Slaugh, who recently graduated, said she joined the county program to gain those work field skills.
Vonna Victor, recreation program supervisor, said she has also seen the interns grow into a leadership mindset and serve as role models for the kids at the community center.
“I know it’s kind of hard when you have a big group of kids and you have to be outspoken to get them going,” she said. “You want to lead them but then you also want them to have fun at the same time. So it’s them learning that balance of leadership but them having fun with them too.”