A classroom internship at Green Hills Elementary, made possible by EKCEP’s Prosper Appalachia initiative, gave Harlan County student Alexis Caldwell the clarity she had been looking for as she considered her future after high school. Through the internship, she gained hands-on experience in education and saw how a career serving students could take shape in her home community.
Prosper Appalachia is EKCEP’s in-school career exploration and work-based learning program that helps Eastern Kentucky students identify career goals, gain hands-on experience, and prepare for education and employment after graduation. Through the program, students work with Career Development Specialists who help them explore career interests, connect with local work-based learning opportunities, and better understand the options available in their own communities.
Caldwell first heard about Prosper Appalachia at school.
“A lot of kids were talking about it and I thought it would be a really good program to prepare me for my future to kind of go into what I was wanting to go into for college,” she said. “And it’s just an awesome program so far.”
Caldwell plans to study elementary education after high school, but before her Prosper Appalachia internship, she was still weighing that path against nursing. Her placement at Green Hills Elementary helped her make that decision with confidence. She added that Prosper Appalachia Career Development Specialist Rhett Alred helped guide her through the process and encouraged her to pursue a work experience tied directly to her interest in education.
“At the beginning, I went back and forth with education and nursing, but through the program, I went and got to deal with the kids and got to see how the teachers are in the classroom,” Caldwell said. “And I’ve just fell in love with education.”
During her time at Green Hills Elementary, Caldwell worked alongside teachers, spent time with students, and observed classrooms across multiple grade levels. She also took part in school activities, including field trips, basketball games, and yearbook work, giving her a broader look at the role teachers play in the school community.
“I got to go into the classrooms and just see how the teachers run the classroom to see how I kind of see how I need to run my classroom when I get into education,” she said. “I got to work on the yearbook and I just got to have that relationship with all the kids and it’s just been a wonderful year with all of them.”
For Caldwell, the experience also showed that meaningful career opportunities are available in Harlan County. She said she hopes to stay in the community and give back through education.
“Yeah, I feel like I want to stay in Harlan County,” Caldwell said. “I love this county and I just want to give back to them like they’ve given back to me.”
She said that kind of career exploration is important for students because it gives them the opportunity to test a career path before committing to it in college or training.
“I think this is a great program to help you know for sure that you want to go into that because instead of going into nursing, I could have wasted a year or something on doing that and ended up not liking it,” Caldwell said. “But I’ve been able to do this program to say that I really do love education and that I want to go into that.”
For other students considering Prosper Appalachia, Caldwell’s advice is simple.
“I would tell them for sure do it and just to go into what they think they want to do because then it helps see if you actually like what you’re going to go into,” she said.
Prosper Appalachia is funded in part through support from the Kentucky General Assembly, but private donations help EKCEP expand critical work experience opportunities for students across Eastern Kentucky. To invest in the future of our region’s young people, donate directly at ekcep.org/donate.
EKCEP, a nonprofit workforce development agency headquartered in Hazard, Ky., serves the citizens of 23 Appalachian coalfield counties. EKCEP is funded by the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, along with various federal and state grants and private donations, and is a proud partner in the American Job Center network.