{"id":9592,"date":"2019-09-03T15:31:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T20:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/?p=9592"},"modified":"2019-09-03T15:36:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T20:36:17","slug":"uw-stevens-point-student-serves-community-children-with-summer-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/2019\/09\/03\/uw-stevens-point-student-serves-community-children-with-summer-internship\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stevens Point student serves community children with summer internship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Jessica<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point senior Jessica Enstad has \nalways had a passion for working with children and for serving and \nhelping others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, she \nwas able to put that enthusiasm into practice through an internship at \nthe Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, serving as director of the \nMadison View Extension club in Stevens Point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Boys & \nGirls Club is an incredible opportunity for me to impact kids and give \nthem a great future,\u201d the Neillsville native said. \u201cIt provides them \nwith a safe and positive place to learn, grow and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A family and consumer sciences<\/a>\n major with an emphasis on child, youth and family studies, Enstad is \napplying her classwork to planning, organizing and leading programs and \nactivities for children in first through eighth grade \u2013 from arts and \ncrafts to science experiments and field trips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day was a \ncrazy, new adventure,\u201d she said. She discovered how much the children \nenjoy cooking and baking, so they are in the kitchen every day learning \nnew skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have been able to build relationships by \nconnecting with the kids through their hobbies and interests,\u201d Enstad \nsaid. \u201cI have learned how dynamic and different each child\u2019s needs are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because\n of her love of children, Enstad always thought she would be an \nelementary school teacher. When she came to UW-Stevens Point, she \npursued a major in communication sciences and disorders so she could \nhelp children with auditory or speech problems. During her sophomore \nyear, she learned more about the family and consumer sciences major and \nknew it was a perfect fit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family and consumer sciences students \nlearn about topics as basic as food, shelter and clothing, and as \ncomplex as child development, consumer economics and family \nrelationships. They may work in youth services, intervention resources, \ncommunity outreach, aging and disability centers or in long-term care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\n prepare our students to work with individuals and families from \u2018womb \nto tomb,’\u201d said Professor Sterling Wall, family and consumer sciences. \n\u201cWe consider challenges at every stage of life and ways to proactively \nprepare.\u201d For this reason, he said, internships can take students in \nmany different directions, so connecting with a professional who will \nguide them toward the right career path is valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Enstad, \nwho began working for the Boys & Girls Club as a program director \nher sophomore year, that connection was her supervisor, Danielle Belsky,\n director of operations. A family and consumer sciences alumna from \nUW-Stevens Point, Belsky had also started with the Boys & Girls Club\n as director at Madison View, and felt it was a good fit for Enstad, \ntoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe family and consumer sciences program at UW-Stevens Point\n opened my eyes to opportunities within nonprofit organizations,\u201d said \nBelsky, who now manages the club\u2019s seven sites. \u201cI knew Jessica had the \nflexibility, leadership skills and relatability needed to succeed in \nthis role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UW-Stevens Point works with community partners to \noffer volunteer and hands-on activities, Enstad said. \u201cThere are \nresources on campus that encouraged me get out into the community and \ninto opportunities I never knew existed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those include her spring\n break service trip to Kentucky, weekly volunteering as a cook at the \nStevens Point Salvation Army, serving as a Big Sister and membership in \ntwo UW-Stevens Point family and consumer sciences student organizations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on a service trip to Puerto Rico<\/a>\n with Wall and 20 other UW-Stevens Point students in August to volunteer\n at the Hope Lodge of the American Cancer Society in San Juan. The group\n helped with painting, cleaning and any needed tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition \nto encouraging professional networking, family and consumer sciences \nclasses have taught Enstad how to plan youth programs around specific \nneeds, to be flexible with those plans and to be a good listener. Her \nminors in psychology and Spanish also help on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes a child just needs you to let them talk and acknowledge their feelings by giving them the space to share,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enstad\n plans to graduate in December and looks forward to using her degree to \nserve and work with children and families in a nonprofit organization. \nShe can see herself continuing to work at the Boys & Girls Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile\n I may not know the extent of the impact I am making now, knowing that I\n can be there for the kids at such a crucial time in their lives is \nenough,\u201d Enstad said. \u201cI hope I\u2019m planting a seed and a building a \nfoundation for a great future for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point senior Jessica Enstad has always had a passion for working with children and for serving and helping others. This summer, she was able to put that enthusiasm into practice through an internship at the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, serving as director of the Madison View Extension club in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12,15,19],"tags":[520,145,305,343,344],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9592"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9595,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9592\/revisions\/9595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}