this -n- that

By Tede Price

Interns and Seasonal Staff are the Building Blocks of Great Professionals

So many young people try to find a fun internship. Maybe it’s so they can be around friends, maybe to make lots of money, or maybe it’s to make an impact.

Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation hires hundreds of seasonal employees each summer to work at Camp Summit, Summit Waves, Amphitheater and Community Centers. Patrons may not realize the department also hires summer interns from area colleges and universities who are majoring in related fields. These Interns typically spend 12- 14 weeks immersed in the world of parks and recreation. With LSPR, they spend time in all divisions of the department, including; community centers, aquatics, park operations and construction, administration, marketing, programming and special events.

LSPR has been fortunate to have hired interns who then land part-time jobs, maybe even full-time jobs and spend the majority of their career in this department.

Michael Cox was an intern student from Southeast Missouri State in 2016. His plan was to work with sports in a municipality. However, one day during his internship with the parks division, all of that changed. He was working with one of our Master Park Specialists helping rebuild a bench, he realized he enjoyed seeing a project come to completion, and from that day forward, Michael knew he needed to work in the park division.

Michael completed his internship and landed a part-time job with another department on the sports turf crew. He then was hired with LSPR as a park specialist overseeing the cemetery and assisting the parks operations crew. In 2018, he was promoted to park maintenance supervisor, overseeing six full-time staff and day-today operations of neighborhood parks.

He was hired part-time in park operations as seasonal staff, then transitioned to a part-time recreation supervisor a couple months later. In less than a year, a full-time position as a recreation supervisor became available, and Heath was hired to oversee Itty Bitty sports, Bailey Farm Park and instructional programming. After a vacancy occurred, he transitioned to overseeing Hartman Park, Adult sports and leagues.

Heath demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, becoming an assistant manager in two years at Lovell Community Center. In April 2021, Heath was named the manager of Longview Community Center.

“There’s a place in parks and recreation for everybody. We have accountants, architects, communication majors and graphic designers. If you want to be in parks and recreation, no matter the degree or background, there is a place for you,” Heath concluded.

Heath Harris was LSPR’s first spring intern, a student at Northwest Missouri State University majoring in corporate recreation and wellness. He planned to go into athletic training initially. However, he listened to his advisor, who suggested corporate recreation may be a better route to get exposure to working in a community.

For more information about an internship, contact David Dean, David.dean@cityofls.net. Or check out all of our jobs at lsparks.net