ALIGN Externship Program

Connect classroom to workplace with on-the-job experiences

externship with engineer and apprentice

Lenawee Now and the Lenawee Intermediate School District (LISD) are excited about our Teacher/Counselor Externship Program. The Externship Program is designed to offer a unique professional development opportunity connecting the classroom to the workplace through direct, on-the-job experiences.

Host Employers Needed

We would very much appreciate your consideration to participate in it as a host site during the summer. Should you agree, you would employ one or possibly two externs (high school or middle school teachers and/or counselors) for a period of just 2 work weeks (80 hours). Their salaries during that time would be paid for through grant funding.

During the extern’s time at your company, the expectation would be that they learn about your operation, your culture, business/industry trends, workplace practices, and skills required for the various positions you have in addition to any other workplace-related opportunities you feel would be important.

You, as the host organization, will also benefit directly from participating in the program by:

  • Growing brand awareness with externs, their students and their parents
  • Increasing their awareness of industry-specific career opportunities
  • Informing externs about your expectations of employees in various positions and offer input on their curriculum, thereby contributing to the preparation of the future workforce
  • Receiving valuable input from externs on issues affecting the workplace, issues they could assist you with rectifying, creating/modifying business plans, development of training programs, etc.
  • When externs summarize their experiences at the conclusion of the 2-week program, they can point out core strengths and opportunities that might be helpful in terms of continuous improvement measures you may want to consider making.

Teachers & Counselors Needed

This program will also serve to enhance and strengthen the externs’ effectiveness so they are better able to prepare their students for the future. Another goal of the partnership will be to increase the number of individuals with soft as well as technical skills needed to fill the growing number of jobs in Lenawee County.

Educators and counselors with this experience will benefit in these ways:

  • Increase their awareness of industry-specific career opportunities.
  • Teachers can design and implement classroom activities, projects and work-based learning opportunities that will add relevance and meaning to a student’s classroom learning.
  • Externships provide a fresh perspective where teachers and counselors tie curriculum to real-world application and explain the value of what students are learning.
  • Local school districts will be paid $2,000 for each extern that successfully completes the externship program for {2 weeks (a total of 80 hours) at the host/business organization} for use in compensating the participating extern for his or her completion of the program. By providing the payment directly to each district, it allows you to comply with any applicable employment agreement requirements.
  • Externs who successfully complete the externship will qualify for 80 SCECHs awarded following the program.

What a unique program this has been in past years. It is for this reason that we encourage you to seriously consider participating in these summer programs and take advantage of the benefits it offers!

Please contact Chuck Chase, Consultant – Align Talent System at Lenawee Now if you would be willing to host an extern during the summer.

If you are interested in being an extern for the next program, please contact Julie Burkeen at the LISD.