From law offices to museums to marketing firms, eight Archer students spent their summer learning how to navigate the corporate world, thanks to a new internship program sparked by student initiative and community collaboration.
The catalyst for the program was when senior Evan Weingarten approached history teacher and Artemis Center adviser Beth Gold about starting a community-oriented internship program. Weingarten shared with Gold that her friends at Brentwood participated in a program that allowed students to apply for internships at companies and organizations affiliated with Brentwood alumni or parents.
“I thought this program would be a lovely way to bring the community together and give back to each other,” Weingarten said. “I wanted Archer students to have opportunities in high school to explore passions and career paths with the guidance of our close-knit community.”
Former Associate Head for Teaching and Learning Karen Pavliscak and Gold collaborated to develop the internship program in 2024 before its rollout in 2025, turning Weingarten’s idea into a structured summer opportunity. With 37 applications from sophomores, juniors and seniors, Gold said the initial interest in the program was exciting. She prioritized applications from juniors and seniors, believing that sophomores would have more opportunities to apply in future years.
“The summer internship program was designed to give students real world experience,” Gold said. “[We wanted to] teach them about careers, professional experiences — everything from dress to corporate cultures — responsibilities and help students bring some of the learning they’re doing in school out of the classroom.”
Gold’s biggest challenge in beginning this program was soliciting host companies and programs for students to work with. Although Gold conducted outreach through interest emails and Head of School Elizabeth English announced the program and discussed it at Archer Parent Association meetings, she felt that — given the level of student interest — more opportunities should have been provided to meet that demand.
As the program is expected to run next year, Gold plans to undertake more targeted outreach to parents and community members. Outside of this, Gold said she was pleased with how the program turned out for students this past summer.
“From what [the students] told me, it was really successful in giving them real-world experience and practical skills, and they learned everything from Excel sheets to social media marketing campaigns to the intersection of law and healthcare,” Gold said. “So it was a really, really amazing experience for everybody … And for the future, if any students think their parents or friends or family would be willing to host an archer intern, it was a great experience for the host sites too.”
Two rising juniors and six rising seniors participated in internship enrichment programs across various disciplines. Alex Sunshine (‘27), Olivia Hallinan-Gan (‘26), Sara Salehi (‘26) and Charlotte Burnap (‘27) worked at Elevate Law, a Los Angeles-based company that provides “consulting, legal software, and services to law departments and law firms.” Julia Ong (‘26) worked at the Wende Museum, and Ava Maquade (‘26) worked for screenwriter and director Jessica Sharzer. Selah Johnson (‘26) worked at Artkive in their marketing department, while Maia Kim (‘26) worked at financial service company SDS capital.
The interns averaged 30 hours of work per week, Gold explained, for six weeks over the summer.
Salehi played a role in supporting Elevate’s marketing and social media efforts. She noted that her interest in digital marketing and media influenced Gold’s decision to place her in an internship with them. Like the other interns, Salehi participated in a hybrid work model, alternating between remote work and in-office days.
“I think having real-world experience and being able to enter the workforce and understand your responsibilities and roles when you’re in high school is such an incredible opportunity,” Salehi said. “Even getting to experience a hybrid work model — which I know a lot of people are doing now — was really valuable.”
Like Salehi, Johnson had a strong interest in marketing and social media. During her initial internship interview with Gold, she conveyed this passion, highlighting her prior involvement with social media teams for several Archer clubs. Her experience at Artkive — a service that transforms children’s artwork into keepsake books — focused on content analytics, scheduling posts, developing digital media and managing logistics for the company’s Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest platforms.
“It was amazing … to learn what marketing means as a career, and what kind of work someone in marketing does on a daily basis,” Johnson said. “I worked closely with the company’s marketing manager, I was kind of, like, her right hand woman, and she talked to me about her experience getting into marketing, what she majored in in college and other details like that. ”
Johnson and Salehi both said the program gave them skills applicable to their passions and extracurricular involvements at Archer.
“I think it’s given me a lot of insight into how I can use the tools that I’ve gained from Archer in the future. For example, I had an interview with [English teacher Brian Wogensen] about Lit&, and I was able to tell [him] about the marketing and outreach skills that I could bring to that team because I have hands-on experience,” Johnson said. “Now I know what it means to be persuasive and successful in marketing a product or event, and having that experience to contribute to something else is really … wonderful.”
