MOULTRIE, Ga. — What’s it like in the real world? That’s a question many students may be asking themselves as they approach their junior and senior school years.

Work Based Learning (WBL) and Youth Apprenticeship are educational programs that provide students with real-life work experiences where they can apply academic and technical skills and develop employability skills, their website states,

Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Paul Nagy, ROTC instructor for Colquitt County High School and District Five county comissioner, started the County Commission Student Intern Program and has three students who work for the county in various positions.

Nagy said the program helps inform youth about local government. He also said that the program has had success as a teaching platform and saves the county money.

“It’s really a win-win situation,” Nagy said.

This year is the second year of the program. The program started with one county intern, and has grown to three interns for this school year.

Nagy said he hopes to expand the program to include five interns next school year.

Brady Mathis, a senior at CCHS, works in the maintenance department within the program. Mathis works as a part-time mechanic servicing county vehicles.

He plans to pursue a career in diesel mechanic automotive services at Jones Technical Institute in Jacksonville, Fla.

Michelle Hernandez, a junior at CCHS, works in the purchasing department where she assists other departments by taking invoices sent from different offices, updating the computers and creating purchase orders.

Hernandez’s pathway is the computer, business and technology emphasis. She landed a spot with the intern program through a teacher recommendation and plans to pursue accounting at Valdosta State University when she graduates from high school.

“The department helped me understand what I want to pursue when I grow up,” Hernandez said. “It’s good for future jobs.”

Gail Thompson, WBL coordinator, said that the youth selected for the CCSIP undergo a rigorous application process. “We have to find students who have really good work ethics,” Thompson said. “Like being on time, being there everyday and being dependable.”

Noelle Lang, a senior at CCHS,  works at the roads and bridges department where she assists with call-in complaints about the roads and writing work orders for any issues found on the roads, such as potholes, fallen stop signs and muddy roads.

Lang hopes to attend Spellman College in Atlanta or Howard University in Washington, D.C., upon graduation where she plans to pursue a degree in psychiatry.

The CCSIP is a new extension of the WBL program. The three coordinators of the WBL program are Heather Edwards, Gail Thompson and Gene Hart. The program has about 135 students in different positions throughout the county.

The purpose is to prepare these students for the workforce,” said Thompson. “It can be a paid internship or an unpaid internship.

“They work in different positions, ranging from fast food to the hospital, to the county commissioner’s office,” Edwards said.

“We want to keep students on track for graduation and help them gain employability skills,” Thompson said. “We need to start looking for students for next year’s program.”

Students who are interested in applying for the WBL program have to be 16, in their junior or senior year, on track for graduation with little to no discipline record.

Thompson said that any student can apply for the CCSIP program, but they all undergo screening and must meet all other requirements.

Interested students can pick up applications at the WBL desk or at Counselor’s Corner.