MODELS FOR THE INTERN PROJECT:
TWO INSTITUTIONS, TWO STRUCTURES

ARROW ROCK: COLLEGE INTERN PROGRAM
BWHM: HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM

 

FRIENDS OF ARROW ROCK: COLLEGE INTERN PROGRAM
Unlike for the Black World History Museum, for a rural institution like the Friends of Arrow Rock community involvement through interns faces particular logistical challenges. Because the town of Arrow Rock itself is only comprised of 70 people, the institution needed to think broadly about how to set up its intern program in a way that offered an exchange of ideas, talent, and level of involvement between the Friends and the community. Kathy Borgman explained: "our population is a different population. Just getting local school kids involved in here doesn't translate into involvement into your community" as quickly as a city museum's program would. In addition, the FAR felt that the demands of researching, writing, and producing a living history script would be better served by a more mature group of interns. So, instead of approaching the nearest high school, the FAR decided to contact a an associate professor of history from Missouri Valley College. This professor, Dr. Lori Gates, was enthusiastic about the project and helped to create the for-credit intern project that FAR adopted.

Under this system, the Friends of Arrow Rock worked with the chair of the History Department and a member of the theatre faculty to supervise a total of six college students chosen, in part, by Dr. Gates. The founding idea of this exchange was that these students (3 history, 1 English, 2 theatre) would receive one semester's worth of college credit for the completion of their work; the Friends, in turn, would receive a working script and presentation of a living history project on John and Nannie Sites. The intern project itself ran from 11 January 2000 through the end of the college semester in the spring.

Unlike the Black World History Museum, the Friends of Arrow Rock had not established a specific screening process or a set timeline for the completion of the script. The class itself had no set meeting time, and the Friends found it difficult to coordinate and accommodate the various students' schedules. In addition, the students themselves found coordinating the research, writing, and production components of the script to be challenging. Since the writing depended on the research, and the production depended on the writing, there were times when the project had difficulty moving forward. As Pam Parsons stated, the Friends staff members "just...trusted that everyone would do his best and do his job and we thought it would just happen." In reality, the process was significantly more complex.

Essentially, then, the Friends of Arrow Rock had to rethink major elements of its intern program even as it was taking place. As the Friends staff met consistently with the students, they realized they were trying to accomplish too much in a very limited time frame. Specifically, the staff had counted on completing the research on John and Nannie Sites and the post-Civil War time period, the writing and revision of the script, and the presentation of the material. The students were unable to accomplish these tasks in addition to learning the new skills necessary for completing the tasks. As a consequence, Sue Stubbs and the rest of the staff ended up providing a good deal of the research for the students in order to expedite the writing process. Thanks to these efforts, the scripting was completed on time and was ready for community critique by the end of April.

Even given these difficulties, however, Friends of Arrow Rock staff still think that "the basic idea [of the intern project] is good" and assert that they would take on a project of this sort again. By using what they have learned about the necessity of advanced planning and structure for the students, they feel that they could implement another successful intern program. In specific, they are considering coordinating a program with Missouri A+ students as a way to conduct educational outreach and increase community involvement in a way not usually possible for a rural institution.