Internship

Portfolio
Summer Internship
Year 2018

Name
Alyson Kowalczyk
 2
Center for Experiential Learning Internship Experience,
L. EXP-294 Loras College

Internship Portfolios provide students with a summation of their experience. They allow the
student to take a reflective view of where they started, how their internship helped them to learn
& develop new skills, and provide a launching into the next steps in their educational &
professional careers.

The Academic Internship requires 50 hours of on-site work experience per credit and is designed
to guide the student through an introduction into career readiness & exploration. The Portfolio is
the culmination of those experiences with an emphasis on learning and expanding the
professional skill set.

In order to receive a Passing grade for the internship, students must complete the following
documents/assignments (in the provided template) and submit them within this portfolio in the
following order:

1. Title Page – Name, Loras College, Semester of Internship, Name of Internship Site
2. Copy of Job Description as provided by the supervising site
3. Copy of Cover Letter/Letter of Application from student to Site Supervisor
4. Completed Learning Plan (Template is included)
5. Reflective Journal Questions & Responses – As submitted weekly on eLearn
6. Final Essay (2 page minimum for 1-2 credits, 4 page minimum for 3+ credits). Contact
Internship Coordinator to propose addition or substitution of evidence of work (e.g. marketing
ads, research, etc.)
a. Answering, expanding, and reflecting on the questions:
i. What did you do?
ii. What did you learn?
iii. Why did it matter?
7. Updated Resume including your internship experience
 3

ALYSON KOWALCZYK

LORAS COLLEGE

ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP FOR SUMMER 2018 SEMESTER

St. Mark Youth Enrichment Summer Academy

 4
JOB DESCRIPTION

Assist with Kindergarten and 3rd grade classes mainly, while also assisting in other grade levels

as well when it is needed. Focusing on social-emotional skills with students throughout the

summer. Offering positive behavior interventions with students when needed.

 5
COVER LETTER

St. Mark Administration Team,

I am writing to express my interest in obtaining an internship at the Summer Heroes Academy summer
program. I am a senior in college working towards a BA in Psychology at Loras College. In the future I
hope to become a school psychologist working with elementary aged students.

I am interested in an internship with this program because St. Mark Youth Enrichment is a nonprofit
organization that focuses on social-emotional growth and providing services to kids in the community.
Working as an intern with the summer program will allow me to grow in my skills with working with
children and my knowledge of social-emotional growth and how that has an impact on youth
development.

I have worked with St. Mark during the school year at after school program and have many years of
experience working with children. I have taken many courses in school to help me understand children,
their development, and what they need to thrive through the development and changes they undergo as
they grow up. I hope to meet with you soon to discuss a possible opportunity for an internship that will
not only benefit me, but also the St. Mark summer program and all of the kids who participate.

Thank you,

Alyson Kowalczyk
 6
FINAL LEARNING PLAN
This should be a revisited &/or revised Learning Plan based on your initial plan submitted at the
beginning of your internship.

Please answer the following questions:

 *Identify two job/career objectives or skills this internship will help the student develop.
1. Goal/Objective: Improve communication skills

Means: Working with not only program coordinators, others in the St. Mark office,
and also kids in the program I hope to become better at communication. This is always
something I have struggled with and am not the best at. I have improved greatly over the
years but I hope that this opportunity with help me keep making strides.

Assessment: Supervisor feedback as well as my own subjective determination

2. Goal/Objective: Improve my skills working on behavior with kids

Means: In the future I hope to pursue a career in school psychology. That being
said, I want to improve my skills in working on behavior with kids. These things that I
hope to improve on include diffusing situations where a child might be acting out or two
kids are not getting along. If a child is having trouble in the program and is struggling to
enjoy it or follow directions and thrive in program I hope gain/work on the skills to help
that child figure out where the disconnect is and what we can do to fix it and help them
gain something out of program and their time with St. Marks.

Assessment: Supervisor assessment as well as assessment from a teacher when I

come in and work with one of their students

 Supervisor goals (What does the supervisor want the intern to learn/accomplish?)
Agrees with all of above goals

 Supervisor expectations (What does the supervisor expect from the student?)
Expects a willingness to learn and be flexible.

 How can the supervisor & intern collaborate to help obtain these objectives?
o Spending a lot of time moving around given the face paced environment of summer
program I will be seeing my supervisor throughout the day. That being said, random
conversations and updates will be most effective.

.
 7
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ENTRIES

Week 1 Date __June 10th, 2018___________________ Total Hours ____8___________

This week respond to the following question regarding your experience to this point.
What are the key events and features of this experience?

Response: The main events of my internship this summer are going to be Conscious Discipline including

teaching it and using it. Conscious Discipline is a type of social and emotional learning that teaches kids to be

able to identify their emotions so they can better respond to situations instead of simply react to them. Working

with my supervisor we decided that I would be able to work with the kindergarten class at the St. Mark summer

program and come up with activities to help teach them the various techniques of conscious discipline. This

makes me very excited because in the future I hope to work as a school psychologist. Something I am very

interested in is behavior and being able to work with children on conscious discipline is a very beneficial thing.

I not only am getting experience working with kids, specifically the age group I want to work with in the future

(elementary), but I also am getting a chance to directly work with them on their behavior.

I also am going to be “on call” so to speak for when a different classroom has a kid that is struggling

with his behavior. I get to go in and work with that kid and try to help them work through the issue so that they

can take away a good experience from St. Mark. I also will be helping my supervisor, a program coordinator,

with anything she may need whether it be something in the office or help with a child/situation. All of these

pieces come together to make an excellent internship experience that I am really excited about. This past week I

helped get everything set up and running for the start of program which is this Monday, June 11th. I was taught a

lot about conscious discipline and how we teach it to kids as well as ways that we utilize conscious discipline in

the classroom. This upcoming week I am looking forward to getting to work with kids on these skills and

behaviors.

Week 2 Date __6/17/2018______________ Total Hours ______16.6_________

What connection does the experience have to your personal or professional goals?

Response: In my professional life I hope to become a school counselor. This means working with students as

well as parents to ensure that children are thriving in school and feel safe and comfortable in their learning
 8
environment so that they are able to take away as much as possible from learning. Within this internship I have

been able to sit in on a parent meeting with a student who was having trouble following directions. We tried to

come up with a plan for him that would help him be successful at program. I have also been able to call parents

and follow up with them for program related things. All of this is helping me become more experienced in

working with children and parents to ensure that they are successful at the St. Mark program. I am also getting

to work a lot with conscious discipline in the different classrooms. I am getting more experience teaching

different age groups this way of learning and am able to see what works for the younger kids and what works

for the older kids. By teaching it to so many kids I am also getting to experience different ways that work for

some ways and ways that do not work for others. This is helping me get experience working with a wide variety

of kids with a variety of needs and various ways of learning.

In my personal life I want to become more social and more comfortable around people I do not know.

Participating in this internship has allowed me to do so. I have been able to meet and interact with new co-

workers, parents, and even students. The summer program is split up into different groups by grade level. I have

gotten to assist in a few of this different classes already so I am getting to meet new kids and learn from them as

well as the people at St. Mark. This experience is helping me come out of my shell even more and I feel

confident when I go there because I am excited for what the day has to offer.

Week 3 Date _________June 26th, 2018_______ Total Hours ____26.5___________

What does this experience point out to your about my own attitudes, biases, or preferences?
What are you learning about yourself through this internship?
Response: Something I am learning about myself is that I have a small need for control. I like to be in control

of situations and when I am not it makes me anxious and impatient. I want to jump in and take control so that

things can go smoothly because I believe I can do whatever needs to be done effectively. While this is

sometimes a good thing, it can also be something that hinders me. In certain situations if there is no control I

can step up and take control to try and help a situation. There have been a few times that someone could not get

a student to follow directions or make good choices and in those situations if I believe I can be of help, I will
 9
jump in. A need for control can also be something that is not good. For example, my group of students went on

a short fieldtrip walk today and were split up between me and another teacher. The group with the other teacher

was having a very hard time listening to that teacher. They were making unsafe choices seeing as we were

walking on a sidewalk next to busy Main Street. This other group was across the street from us and I had no

way to go over there and get the situation under control. This was not good because it spiked my anxiety

watching them not be safe and I was not able to focus on the group I had with me. I have been learning that I

have to find a balance and be okay with not being able to be in control sometimes. When it is necessary and

helpful it is okay but when a situation is already handled I can stay out.

This experience has also helped me realize a few things career wise. It has helped me solidify my

feelings for wanting to work with the elementary population. I prefer this age group because I enjoy spending

time with them and having fun with them. They are in a very critical age for development and are constantly

discovering new things about themselves and the world around them. It is not only so cool to watch them make

these discoveries but to also be able to help them though it and help them make sense of things. My time at St.

Mark so far has helped me realize this and helped me get one step closer to where I want to be.

Week 4 Date _____7/1/2018________________ Total Hours ______34.5_________

What emotions and thoughts does this experience trigger in you?

Response: This experience has evoked a lot of emotions in the time I have been with St. Mark so far. One of

the main emotions is excitement. I have had the chance to be involved in many situations that have allowed me

to gain experience and knowledge within this internship. Getting to gain these skills and experiences makes me

excited to continue throughout the summer. That being said, I have also experienced what I would consider a

little bit of sadness or sympathy. This past week there was a situation with a child that I got to be involved in

and help with. A child in a class had a very rough day and was written up for a small fight and he got very upset

by this and was uncontrollable and inconsolable. He was very worried that he was in trouble and that his mom

would be mad at him. Once we were able to calm him down and get him back into the routine for the rest of the

day I got to be a part of the process of taking next steps. His mom met with us after program had ended for the
 10
day and we decided a plan of action. We decided that we were going to move him to a different classroom for

the remainder of the summer because we think he will be more successful there. It was very cool to be able to

be a part of this process and get a chance to meet with a parent and not just listen, but be a part of the thought

process and decision making. While this situation made me a little sad and I felt bad for the child because he

was struggling, it also made me happy that we figured out a solution that will benefit him and help him be

successful in program. There are many emotions that I seem to go through in a day but some days go really well

and I love that. Even the days where there are tough situations make me happy a little bit because it was an

experience I got to learn from and that makes me very excited for the remainder of the summer.

Week 5 Date ______7/17/18____________ Total Hours _____43________

Review the Initial Learning Plan/goals. Are you progressing towards meeting your goals and expectations?
What challenges have you encountered and how are you working to overcome those?

I feel as though so far I have been accomplishing my goals and expectations. One of my main goals was to be

more social and be more comfortable communicating. Throughout this experience I have been able to grow in

my communication skills greatly. I swap and assist in many of the different classrooms throughout the

days/weeks so I have had to communicate and meet many different people and kids. Doing so has helped me

grow in these skills and become more comfortable talking to and meeting new people.

My other main goal was to improve on my skills in working with behavior with kids. I believe that so

far I have also made strides in this goal. I have gotten to work with kids almost every day and I feel like I have

made steps forward than when I first started. I also work at the YMCA with preschoolers and they are a tough

group to get discipline to stick with. You can explain to a child why the choice they made was not right or not

safe and talk to them about what they can do to fix their behavior but chances are they are going to forget soon

after you have that conversation. This makes things very repetitive because they have to be reminded a lot and

you must repeat yourself each time they do something they are not supposed to. While this is a challenge

because it can be tiresome and frustrating it has helped me practice that behavior conversation with a child

many times. I feel confident when a child acts out that I can solve the problem in a calm way and get the child

to talk to me and realize what they have done wrong.

 11

Week 6 Date_______7/24/2018________ Total Hours _____53__________

What are you observing about your work environment? If you could, what are two things you would keep and
two things you would change?
Something that I am very grateful for is that I love my work environment. Everyone there is so nice and I

always have a really good time. I look forward to going to St. Marks and that is something that I cherish. The

staff is very supportive of the students and it is a great environment to be in. Two things I would keep would be

the support that everyone receives. The supervisors are some of the nicest people I have ever met and no one

ever has trouble asking them questions. This makes for a very comfortable work place where everyone is happy.

Another part of my work environment that I enjoy is the relaxed feeling it has. This is not to say that it is too

relaxed and unprofessional. It is a very fun environment and this is what makes it seem so relaxed. Everyone

gets along very well and it makes for a very easy-going and fun place. I truly do not think I would change

anything if I could. I am loving my time there and I am going to be very sad when it is over. I have made

connections with so many students and even staff that I will be sad to leave.
 12
FINAL ESSAY

St. Mark Youth Enrichment is a nonprofit organization that provides before and after

school programs as well as summer programs for students. They provide services that build

social-emotional learning skills and educational growth among students. The St. Mark Summer

Heroes Academy runs from June to July and includes many enrichment activites for the students

as well as educational activites that help maintain educational skills over the summer. I had the

opportunity to intern with the Heroes Summer Academy under an Admin team member. I also

was able to work with many students on behavior and help them get the most out of their time at

St. Mark.

Throughout this internship I had many opportunity to work directly with certain students

who were struggling within the program. A few students where having trouble with following

directions and being good listeners in general. I was able to sit in on parent meetings to discuss

actions going forward with these students. Being able to sit in on these meetings has helped me

grow in my ability to problem solve as well as my communication skills. I was able to be an

active participant in these conversations and my opinion was valued. I gave ideas and solutions

and worked with parents to come up with a plan to help each student. By being allowed to do

this was a crucial part in my success in this internship.

One standout part of this internship was my work with one particular student. This

student began struggling early on in program and we worked with him for the duration of

summer program. It was daily and was not a quick solution. He required long term assistance to

be able to thrive in program and I was able to provide that for him. He was moved to a different

classroom to help him thrive better in program and that was very hard for him. He felt as though

him being moved was a punishment and he felt as though his friends in his original classroom

would think different of him for being moved. Though we wanted him to be happy, we felt that
 13
the move to a different classroom would be best for him. I knew this student from working

with him during the school year at after school program so I had a relationship with him and he

was comfortable around me. When he was having a particulary hard day I was able to be there

for him to help him calm down and be able to assess his emotions and how he was feeling. Then

he was able to talk with me about the situation and understand the move and how it was not a

punishment but rather something that was exciting because he got the opportunity to meet more

kids and do different activities. I got to work directly with this student for most of summer

program and this allowed me to grow in my abilty to work with students long term on different

situations.

Overall, this internship has helped me grow in various ways on working with students as

well as adults and coworkers. It has not only helped me expand my skills but also helped me

solidify my desire to work with students in the future as a school psychologist. Working with

students and helping them grow and develop is very rewarding. Watching a child solve a

problem they are having or makin a discovery is one of the coolest things to me. I love the fact

that I get to be a part of a child figuring out the world around them. When they are having

trouble figuring out some of the more confusing or difficult pieces of the world, I like that I can be

there to help guide them in their journey and provide help to them. I learned so many valuable

skills and had so many experiences that I will carry with me as I begin my senior year of college

and continue to work with children in the future.

 14
UPDATED RESUME

Alyson M. Kowalczyk
Campus Home
880 Loras Boulevard 112 Meadows Drive
Dubuque, IA 52001 Sugar Grove, IL 60554
630.398.2974 (cell) 630.398.2974 (cell)
Alyson.Kowalczyk@loras.edu Alyson.Kowalczyk1@gmail.com

EDUCATION Loras College, Dubuque IA Aug. 2015-present

Junior working towards BA in Psychology (May
2019)
 GPA: Overall- 2.8/4.0

WORK Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois Camp Dean

Summer Camp Counselor/Arts and Crafts
Director June 2017- August 2017
 Ran art program at a resident summer
camp
 Was in charge of groups of
elementary/middle school aged Girl
Scouts at a resident summer camp

St. Marks Youth Enrichment Program

Paraprofessional
August 2017- present
 Work with kids at before and after school
program caring for kids, conducting
games, and conducting STEM activities
with them

St. Marks Youth Enrichment Summer Heroes

Academy
Intern
June 2018-July 2018
 Interned as an Administrator
 Worked with various students on behavior
and assisted in classes when needed
 15
ACTIVITIES
Dance Marathon (Aug. 2015-present)
Leadership Team (Public Relations Chair)
 Run Public Relations for the organization
Dance Marathon
 Running Dance Marathon’s social media
accounts and promoting events within the
organization

Advanced Research Methods

Researcher August 2017- present
 Conduct a research study with a team of
other students
 Presenting Research at Loras College
Legacy Symposium