Brock Barshinger – Elementary Education Internship

Hello, my name is Brock Barshinger, and I am a Senior at Garden Spot High School. To end my high school career, I have been blessed with the great opportunity to intern at New Holland Elementary school with one of their 5th-grade teachers. New Holland Elementary School is located at 126 Eastern School Road, New Holland, PA 17557, and is one of the three elementary schools under the Elanco District: the other two being Blue Ball Elementary and Brecknock Elementary. Currently, I am interning in the 5th-grade classroom of my mentor, Mrs. Megan Rey.  I have been so blessed to be a part of the internship program here at Garden Spot High School and to gain experiences with such a great mentor! For as long as I can remember I have had the gifts and heart to work with children. I have had lots of experience in working with children before, mainly, through my church, but this internship has provided a new and different environment where I can grow. I believe we always have room in our lives to improve and grow, so I wanted to intern at New Holland in hopes of both growing in the gifts I already possess and to develop different skills that can become beneficial in the future. This internship has not only given me a better understanding of what it means to be a teacher but has also led me to think more about my future as a whole.

I am so thankful for the guidance my mentor, Mrs. Rey has given me over these past few months! She has been a support in so many different ways and because of her I am growing and reflecting on so much! She has blessed me through her assistance on not only how I go about performing different tasks, but also on how to work relationally with the students! Along the way, she has shared various tips and tricks with me to help me perform tasks in a more refined and efficient manner. For example, the small notes such as my posture when talking to the students or how I verbally interact with them have allowed me to really focus on how even the smaller things can have a big impact. She has let me experience a wide range of tasks such as walking the children through the halls, doing various jobs in the workroom such as lamination or copying, and, most importantly, working with the students. This experience has allowed me to reflect on how I might one day manage a classroom and its environment. I have experienced both the preparation and application aspects of a teacher’s job, not only observing other teachers but also having hands-on experience!

I go to New Holland for four days out of the five-day week, taking Thursdays off. I arrive at around 12:00 and spend the rest of the school day with this class. The afternoon schedule is very sporadic, but it has given me such a diversity of experiences! On a usual day, my tasks are mainly to assist Mrs. Rey in a lot of the preparation work she needs to have to go into lessons, to help Mrs. Rey manage her students, and to be there for the students as not only a helping hand but also a friend that wants to build relationships with them.  I have found so much joy in the time I have spent at this internship, whether it is getting to build bonds with the students, having kids wave to me in the halls, or being a light in these students’ lives. I even find joy in the less glamorous times such as when I spent most of the day just cutting out lamination. I know that even though the small things can seem monotonous, they have a huge impact on a classroom, and I still find joy in being a part of that influence!

In addition, I have gotten to work with many other staff members throughout the facility, such as teachers from other grade levels, the special education teachers, and all of the other hardworking men and women that allow the school to run properly! I want to give a special thanks to Mrs. Ashcroft, Mrs. McCouach, and Mrs. Burnbarry for opening their classes to me while the 5^th graders are having lunch! These three teachers are so generous to let me experience and help out in their classrooms every week! This lunch program has allowed me to observe the various and unique ways a teacher can manage their classroom, allowing me to gain more from my time at the school! With the third-grade teachers, Mrs. Ashcroft and Mrs. McCouach, I have gotten to experience how to work with kids of a younger age and gotten to appreciate the work they put in to meet the high energy of their students! With Mrs. Burnbarry’s fourth grade class, I have gotten experience in working with all kinds of students on different levels. I have gotten to grow bonds with these students and have not only gotten to see what makes them special but also the joy on their faces when things finally click. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of these valued men and women!

Overall, I have been blessed to have been given this great opportunity. This internship has helped me so much in both finding where I am called in life and preparing for my future. I just want to thank Ms. Hackman and all of the staff members at New Holland Elementary that I get the privilege to work with. For students thinking about interning, I would highly recommend it. This experience has given me so much to reflect on and having that hands-on experience makes so much of a difference to what you can gain from it. Being able to not only observe but work in an active environment with professional can make such an impact on a person. This internship program has been such a great help to me and preparing for my future so I would highly recommend it to any student willing to embark on this adventure. Not everyone is made for the field of education, but there are plenty of career fields out there for you. The experiences I gained from this internship have been such an influence on me, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of my time at New Holland Elementary School has in store.