Sooner or later, WCHS students will notice their time as high school students is ending and begin planning for their future, with many applying to colleges. However, when asked to choose a major, many students feel overwhelmed by the plethora of offerings and realize that they may not know what they want to pursue. For that cause, Summer RISE (Reimagining an Innovative Student Experience) is here to help.
Summer RISE is a free MCPS Department of Partnerships-led program that collaborates with businesses, government agencies and other organizations to provide MCPS juniors and seniors with summer career-based learning opportunities related to their field of interest. Registration went live onJan. 13 and will close at 5 p.m. on Feb. 18. As experienced in previous years, not everyone is guaranteed a match due to limited availability of spots and dependency on the type of positions available this cycle, so students interested are advised to register immediately.
“The application process consists of a Google form,” WCHS senior Elizabeth Seldin said. “You basically list out what fields you are interested in and what you have done before in that field. Then, they email you back with someone who pairs with your interests and you can choose to accept or decline the offer.”
Whether helping set up biology labs, designing media or acting as a teacher’s aide, Summer RISE opportunities encompass a wide range of interests, allowing students to discover their niche.
“I was a technical assistant at the Blackrock Theatre for the Arts and shadowed the technical supervisor there,” Seldin said. “I attended board meetings, helped backstage and learned how to use the lightboard and soundboard for their performances.”
As a technical leader for WCHS’ music productions, Seldin was already familiar with construction and painting sets but not as much with lighting and sounds. Despite Summer RISE opening a door to new prospects, another door closes, as she finds herself in an unexpected turn of events.
“A lot of people use Summer RISE to confirm if they want to go into a field or to get more experience in a field, but after my experience, it kind of did the opposite,” Seldin said. “I still have a passion for what I do in school with tech, but I want to keep it to school. For a while, I wanted to do it professionally, but, afterward, I realized it was not for me and wanted to move in a different direction, which was helpful as college applications were coming up.”
WCHS students may relate to Seldin regarding how one’s passion for an extracurricular activity does not necessarily foreshadow one’s future career. Despite this revelation, Summer RISE was not a wasteful experience as she and other students in the same situation were able to avoid the potential need for a future switch of majors. On the other hand, the Summer RISE experience may be just what participants were looking for.
“I am really passionate about art,” WCHS senior Emilia Desiderioscioli said. “I worked for an arts education administration company as a content creator so I did a lot of community outreach, where I learned the ins and outs of arts administration more.”
From AP Drawing to AP Art History, WCHS offers a broad range of art classes. However, like all school subjects, art is still an umbrella category and WCHS is not able to offer courses that touch on all aspects of the industry. Desiderioscioli and previous Summer RISE participants were able to use their internships to delve deeper and explore another element relative to their fields of interest.
“I shadowed my boss who was a photographer to attend staff meetings, appointments with clients and schools where we [held] lessons and I would document those lessons, ” Desiderioscioli said. “It was helpful to learn how to be a part of a team and I got to work with every part of the company by helping out different people, not just my boss.”
Communication is an integral skill in any workplace. When students work with adults in advanced years, it may initially seem intimidating, but ultimately, at its core, it is truly just a human talking to another human.
“There were some learning curves, especially when being on staff meetings,” Desiderioscioli said. “The CEO would be at the meetings so it was hard to bring stuff to the table when you are new and learning to contribute.”
Aside from communication, time management is another valuable skill in the workplace. Summer RISE 2025 will run for five weeks with a minimum requirement of 50 working hours. It is still summer break, so students should be sure to plan accordingly with their internship coordinator on how to organize their schedule.
“You can determine your schedule with your supervisor,” Seldin said. “I ended up extending it throughout the summer break, going twice a week for three hours, so my last shift was the day of the program ceremony. It depends on how quickly you want to get through your program, but yes, there is still time to enjoy summer.”
