Michael Santos, Malcolm Luck and Darius Horne are positive role models.
Montclair High School’s Career Internship Program has led students Michael Santos, Malcolm Luck and Darius Horne to intern at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Newark, N.J. These seniors were able to find this opportunity thanks to Santos’ mother, Dr. Kimberly Santos, who is the vice principal of the school.
This institution is for children from pre K to sixth grade, so it’s no surprise that the three interns are kept busy during the school day. “We’re teacher aides,” said Santos. “We assist with different activities that the teachers do.” Horne added that, “Whenever the teacher needs us to read a story or play different games we’ll do that with the kids.”
The Montclair High School students agreed that this internship has helped them by improving their communication skills, for their duties constantly require group work. Another beneficial result of this internship is the countless lessons on how to work with children which Santos, Luck and Horne have learned.
The seniors’ mentor, Dr. Santos, had only positive comments about the role models that the interns have become to the students of Harriet Tubman Elementary. “The students were able to see a different depiction of a young black male than what they might be normally seeing,” said Dr. Santos. “The young men worked with the students, they provided extra assistance to the teachers and they were able to work one-on-one and give individualized instructions with some of the kindergarten and pre K students.”
The interns also helped with some of the events which the school participated in such as the Newark Public Schools’ summer reading initiative kickoff celebration.
Back in the soon-to-be-graduates’ high school days, the three students kept busy. Luck was a part of Montclair High School’s bowling and baseball teams. Horne was on the cross country and baseball teams and a member of the club, Sisters on the Runway. Santos was a part of the basketball team and the Poetry club.
Next fall, both Luck and Horne will start at The College of New Jersey. Luck will pursue marketing while Horne will focus on business management. Santos will attend Ohio State University at which he will study advertising.
Written By: Rebecca Brownsword, Caitlin Kennedy, Natalie Toth and Maddy Firkser
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