Horace Greeley Seniors Skip Class for Internships

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. – Dozens of graduating Horace Greeley High School seniors avoided being inflicted with the all-too-common “senioritis” this spring by signing up for the school’s internship program called Senior Experience.

According to teacher Andrew Corsilia, the program allowed students to be released from classes for the final five weeks of school to pursue internships or self-directed study. The 27 seniors in this year’s program shared their experiences with parents and teachers Wednesday evening.

“We have a lot of nice end-of-the-year events and a lot of rituals. You can’t really top graduation, but I really like this night,” said Corsilia, who thanked the senior’s parents for "taking a risk" and allowing their children to miss class time.

Internships ranged from working at charity organizations, magazines, farms, recording studios, photography studios and even at schools within the district. While each internship came with its positives and negatives, many students said the experience helped give insight into possible future careers.

“In the future, I might want to work with sports but I’m not sure yet,” said Emma Grunwald, who interned at Bombo Sports and Entertainment. “I had to sit at a desk for everyday I was there, basically. And I don’t think I want to do that for my job.”

Grunwald was not alone in her impatience. Phylicia Ashley, who interned at Westchester Magazine, said she was put to work making phone calls, running errands, researching and fact checking.

“I was also at a desk. And I’m really outgoing and bubbly and I would get antsy sitting there all that time,” said Ashley, whose job also came with its benefits. “Since I was working with the editor of restaurant section, we got sent a lot of free food and ice cream.”

Ashley, who is attending New York University in the fall, said her experience helped her realize she would prefer to be in front of a camera rather than behind a computer, and she has looked into broadcast journalism classes for college.

“Overall, working there was a lot of fun because the people were really nice and friendly,” she said. “I really enjoyed it; it was fun and I recommend it to anyone.”

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