Standing in a room of about 12 students in Chandni Patel’s social studies class, Ethan Frazier was nervous.
The high school senior paced the front of the classroom in his navy and green hoodie and black jeans while his cheeks were almost as red as the Nike mask covering the lower part of his face. He was trying to teach his fellow classmates a lesson on the Articles of Confederation, the first written constitution for the United States in 1781.
“I thought that you said that our constitution is called the Constitution?” a student asked.
“Well, it’s the first constitution of the original 13 colonies in the U.S.,” Frazier responded before moving to the next slide in his PowerPoint presentation.
He was lecturing the class last month as part of his teaching assistant internship at the Graham School, a charter high school in Clintonville. Consisting of 250 students in grades 9-12, the tuition-free school’s focus is providing experiential education in a small-school setting.
The unpaid internship program is referred to as a “Walkabout” by students and staff, and stems from a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood practiced for centuries by Australian Aborigines.
At Graham, Walkabout is specifically for 12th grade students who want to develop their skills and abilities outside of a traditional classroom setting, according to the school website. Usually held during the second semester, students can explore everything from the arts to welding to the nonprofit sector to a job at the school.
While other area school districts, including Columbus City Schools and Worthington City Schools, have internship programs, the amount of time teens get to spend at their Walkabout placement sets it apart.
Graham students work at their Walkabout site for at least three days a week, according to Mary Slaback, community ambassador and internship coordinator. Some can even work five days a week if they have completed their schoolwork for the year.
“To me, it’s just so much more than the classroom experience,” Slaback said. “It’s personal because it’s one-on-one. It’s not a group effort.”
