Key to Career

KAMDEN GAINEY

Darlington County School District's Key to Career program works with businesses and industries to provide workbased learning experiences for students through paid internships. Kamden Gainey and Zimya Dewitt, both seniors at Hartsville High School, shared their journeys with the program and how it has helped lay a foundation for their careers.

Kamden is currently enrolled in the Internship Program where he works as an Information Technologist at Fiber Industries. An average day at work for him is repairing and maintaining computer systems, cameras, key card scanners, and infrastructures. After graduation, Kamden plans to continue his work at Fiber while he attends Florence-Darlington Technical College for two years. He explains that the interviewing process was smooth and the people were very friendly. When asked what he learned at his job he said, “Wiring and how to repair remote key card systems." Kamden feels that the internship will be beneficial to him in terms of his future goals. He also recommends the program to underclassmen. He says that it is a "new experience that can change your life." Zimya Dewitt holds a position as a social media intern with the SC House of Wings as well as a journalism intern with VIP Magazine. An average day for her is collecting videos and images to use for the social media platforms for SC House of Wings and talking to customers about their experiences with the restaurant. She also helps write articles for VIP Magazine. After graduation, Zimya will be attending Winston-Salem State University as a Mass Communications major. The interview process for Zimya was very nerve-racking because she never had to interview for anything before. When asked what she learned at her jobs, Zimya answered, “I realized that social media has so many layers to it. You have to take into consideration what other people want to see and you have to make them want to go to your restaurant.” The only thing that Zimya would change about her internship experience is making it longer. In the Key to Career program, students in the 12th grade get a taste of what it is like in the workforce. During this semester-long period, each student has to complete tasks that resemble what real-life employees must do to be considered for a job. First, each student must have a completed resume and a letter of recommendation from a teacher. Then they must complete and sign a contract with their parents. Once that is being reviewed, the students practice workplace etiquette, how to dress for an interview, and start to think about what kind of job they would like. Then comes the interviews. Before the interviews students are asked to pick from at least one job that is available to them. Once the interviews come around each student must meet at Darlington County Institute Tech to complete them. They are expected to arrive in their best business attire. Once the interviews are complete, the students wait for their job offers. When the students accept a job offer they sign their contract and start work the following week. These internships are paid so each student must submit a timesheet every week and employers are required to do employee evaluations.

To learn more about the Key to Career program, visit www.dcsdschools.org/keytocareer. You won't regret it!

ZIMYA DEWITT