CPSD students just returned to class from summer break, but many like Lakes High School senior Jaelle Shamsid-Deen filled their summer with rare learning opportunities like an internship with local construction company Korsmo Construction.
During the school year, Jaelle is a member of the Lakes ASB, an athlete and an active member of the CPSD Superintendent Youth Advisory Council where her advisors learned about her career interests and connected her to the team at Korsmo.
“I’ve always thought about construction, and I’ve always thought it was cool to see a building be built and the process of seeing the ins-and-outs of a project be completed from start to finish,” Jaelle said.
From June to August, Jaelle learned all about the construction process from the planning stages to the implementation of blueprints. She completed virtual design construction projects, made 3D models of buildings, flew a drone to take photos of construction sites and helped with preconstruction planning to learn more about the cost that goes into a project years before it is executed. To cap off her summer of construction, Jaelle explored a live site by joining the Korsmo team at Tacoma Community College where they are building the new Center for Innovative Learning and Engagement.
“This internship showed me how much more education I need regardless of what I decide to do in the future which has really excited me and given me the boost I need to go into senior year and finish strong,” Jaelle said. “It’s nice to have this foundation if I do decide to go into construction. I’m grateful to have made connections here because it would be a great community-driven company to work for.”
