Straight from a full day at school to the museum to help out with planning and set up for visiting classes–this reflects the daily schedule that Anastasia Podgornaya ‘26 was on throughout her five week internship at Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia.
Through the GA Cooperative Learning program (GACLP) this year, Podgornaya worked in the education department at the museum, taking on the role of organizing and planning activities for elementary age students.
GACLP, directed by Mrs. Russomagno, allows participating students to shadow and work with a staff, typically college students, who already are or are working to become experts in a particular field.
“The primary goals of the program are giving students the opportunity to gain real world experience in a variety of employment fields, develop real skills and understand the culture of today’s workplace, and get a glimpse into careers prior to making decisions about where to attend college and what to study,” Mrs. Russomagno said.
Throughout her internship, Podgornaya spent her time mapping out museum exhibits, assisting with classes of students, and working on an independent project in which she developed a set of worksheets and activities allowing students to interact with exhibits in new ways.
“I asked myself, ‘What kind of questions can I ask kids that will help them think about a piece creatively?’” Podgornaya said. “This involved creating projects where they might draw themselves into the painting. Also, working around how would a ten-year old view this painting as opposed to a seventeen year-old and creating based on that.”
Podgornaya fulfilled the goals of the GACLP program, learning independent skills that can be carried over with her to the professional world.
“I think an important thing was just working independently and learning time management skills. When I worked on my project independently, which was for about two weeks, there wasn’t really a schedule or a deadline,” Podgornaya said. “I had to create a set rubric for myself, like this portion should be done by this, this should be done by this. And I couldn’t run to adults whenever I had a minor problem. I had to actually sit down and try to work it out”
The GACLP program provides students with the opportunity to learn hands-on, rather than being taught in a classroom. Mrs. Russomagno refers to the opportunities presented by the program, as “externships”, providing students with learning opportunities that are outside of a typical environment for students.
“An externship gives you a real-world look at what work is like, which is different from school. In school, you learn through classes, assignments, and grades. At work, you learn by doing, solving problems, working with others, and seeing how your efforts make a real impact. Externships help you build skills, explore careers, and understand what kind of work might excite you in the future.
The opportunity to gain experience working at the museum allowed Anastasia to solidify her interest in exploring art in the future, while also exploring an aspect of the field that she hadn’t considered before.
“Overall, I’m a very art oriented person. So I think this was definitely really helpful in kind of seeing a different aspect of art, where it wasn’t specifically like making art, but working with art and working with people who enjoy art as much as I do,” Podgornaya said.
The experiences gained through the GACLP program can guide students in choosing the right study and career path for them, setting them up for success in the future.
“I think it is really a beneficial experience because everybody there was an artist, was interested in what they were doing, and was enjoying the art around them,” Podgornaya said. Being able to be a part of that community really helped me realize that that’s something I want to be in in the future.”