As student job opportunities expand across campus, PHS has launched a program that stands out: a paid technical theater internship designed to teach specialized skills while filling a critical staffing gap. The internship also helps expand job opportunities for teens within the community.
Rebecca Posamentier, the theater coordinator for the technical theater internship, started the program because of a lack of trained light and sound technicians.
“I wanted to start the program because there’s a need for technicians in the theater,” Posamentier said. “It’s part of putting on a show; you have to have people who can run the lights and the sound. It’s an integral part of putting on a play or a musical.”
After the new theater was built, it became more difficult to find people able to operate the more intricate system.
“With the new theater, it’s a much more complex system,” Posamentier said. “It’s really wonderful for the most part, but it’s a lot harder to work the lights and the sound than it was at the old theater.”
Once Posamentier realized that the only student who knew how to run the lights was graduating, she began looking for ways to train more students.
“What I saw is that we need to train our own students to learn how to be part of the production,” Posamentier said.
The internship requires ten hours of training before students are able to begin working and earning pay.
“Once they get through the internship and the training process, they’ll actually get an opportunity to apply for employment, and then they’ll be able to be paid for their work,” Posamentier said.
Technicians trained through the program will also be able to work beyond Piedmont.
“Once we have enough students who are hirable, we can bring them in for other events that we need, not just for the theater program but for dance shows and rentals too,” Posamentier said.
Sophomore Andson Zhou, who is currently training for the internship, said it offers a way to get involved behind the scenes without the pressure of performing.
“It’s great for people who don’t want a job where you have to talk to a lot of people,” Zhou said.
While payroll is still being finalized, interns are already gaining hands-on experience.
“I’m not getting paid right now because the payroll stuff hasn’t been finished, so I’m using the hours as volunteer hours,” Zhou said.
Beyond the arts, lifeguarding is another popular student job, especially with the upcoming pool opening. Sophomore Vivian Sohn has already secured a position and plans to work year-round.
“I’m planning to work year-round and teach swim lessons too,” Sohn said.
Sohn said she believes swimming is an important life skill and that lifeguarding reinforces that importance.
“I’ve been on the swim team since third grade. Swimming is a valuable skill, and a lot of people my age still don’t know how to swim,” Sohn said. “Lifeguarding and swimming both teach people important skills, and I think that matters.”
Another recreational department job available to students is working as a camp counselor. Junior Kieran Thompson said he worked as a counselor last summer and is considering returning this year.
“I worked at Funtopia as a camp counselor,” Thompson said. “I worked for the entire summer and was paid seventeen dollars an hour.”
Thompson said he would recommend the job and that it helped him develop useful skills. “I learned a lot about taking care of children and I learned better people skills, especially communication,” Thompson said.
