This summer, Kelli Mackey ’20 participated in an educational internship with St. Paul’s School. She helped teach summer boarding school students and supervised them outside of classes, developing her leadership and instruction capabilities.
What is St. Paul’s?
St. Paul’s is a coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire. St. Paul’s runs an Advanced Studies Program (ASP) for five and a half weeks in the summer. The ASP is for students from New Hampshire public and parochial schools entering their senior year of high school.
What are you teaching there?
I am an intern in one of the two sections of the Law and Governance class at ASP this summer. I have a master teacher who works during the year as a dean at a boarding school in San Francisco . . . We brief a lot of Supreme Court cases while looking at the Constitution. We have had a guest speaker who works as a district attorney and will be going on a field trip to the state house and another field trip to federal court.
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Major: Government
High School: Pomfret School; Phillips Academy Andover (post-graduate year)
What are you responsibilities?
I live in the dorms with 23 students and two other interns. We have a house supervisor who is one of the college counselors here this summer. We are in charge of dorm life and dealing with any issues that arise with any of the students. We come up with programming for the girls to partake in with other dorms. The interns are in charge of recreation sports, which take place in the afternoon. I run girls’ soccer in the afternoons with three other interns.
I'm on dorm duty one evening a week, which means I am in the dorm during study hours and then available to any of the girls who may need me throughout the night. I help my students with their homework during study evenings. I help my master teacher decide what we are going to do in class, lead class discussion, and have taught some of my own lesson plans! On Saturday nights, the interns supervise the Triangle of Fun dance and are on dorm duty!
What’s it like to have students?
Having students is awesome! . . . I have six girls and five boys in my class so I have been able to get to know each student very well. The six girls also live in my dorm. I have gotten to know them inside and outside of the classroom. All of the interns would agree that having students makes you laugh and they also have taught us so much over the six weeks.
What are some of your aspirations?
I would love to work at an independent school and coach women's ice hockey. I love working with kids and helping them reach their goals academically and athletically before heading to college.
What's been most rewarding?
The most rewarding part of this internship is watching the students grow. The student who was not the strongest on day one can excel in week five. It is so fun to watch students get the material we are covering in class, or for a student to step up in the dorm with any of the activities we do. It has also been so nice to have a master teacher as a mentor and a house supervisor.
