HyRel Technologies, an international semiconductor modification provider, is partnering with Peoria Unified School District for the second year in a row to offer internships to Peoria Unified students.
“I had been looking for a little bit (for an internship) and not a lot of people accept high school students as interns, more they look for college students,” said Chad Meyers, a student intern from Liberty High School. “That was kind of demoralizing. So having somebody who was actually willing to go through that and take me on as a high schooler was a relief.”
Peoria Unified currently has three students interning for HyRel including Meyers and Mikala Gionet and Tayvin Hoffman — students at Sunrise Mountain High School.
The students are at HyRel Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two hours a day. They work with robot arms, learn about the different processes important to the mechanical systems and gain industry-level experience.
“It’s really cool seeing not only the shop experience but being where the parts are actually manufactured and altered,” said Mikala Gionet, who has been president of her school’s engineering club for two years.
“Just also interacting with the equipment that they’re using. The biggest part that we’ve been working on is 3D printing trays and applying our additive manufacturing skills.”
Meyers, who has wanted to be an engineer since childhood, described how the internship provides a valuable medium between classroom learning and real-world experience.
“When you’re in classes in high schools, it’s very much like you’re in a learning environment,” Meyers said. “The teachers are there to help you learn, but when you’re doing a job it’s more so you’re expected to know what to do. But the internship kind of bridges that gap so it’s zero to 100. … It gives you that experience that you would probably need to know how to behave in those future situations.”
Meyers and Gionet said they have enjoyed being able to take everything they’ve learned throughout their high school career and use it within the internship.
Kylie Werner, Peoria Times Staff Writer Mar 11, 2024 | Photo: Angela Toale/Submitted
