Mishawaka High School Internship
The Notre Dame-Mishawaka High School Internship Program was administered by ND Energy from Fall 2013 through Spring 2024. The program engaged up to 15 high school students annually in energy-related research and other scholarly activities. Students interested in STEM enrolled in one or both semesters for a year-long experience. The program is highlighted below. Starting in Fall 2024, the internship program will be administered by the Center for Broader Impacts.
Program Goals
During each semester, students earned high school credit while conducting energy-related research twice weekly on Notre Dame's campus and participating in seminar-style group classes. Group classes were held regularly at Mishawaka High School with discussions focused on sustainable energy and college preparatory topics.
The program goals for students were to:
- Experience conducting research in a laboratory.
- Gain a deeper understanding of STEM topics.
- Become more aware of the complexities of global energy issues, studying topics such as the geopolitics of energy, renewable energy and economics, and energy policy.
- Develop skills for success in college.
Curriculum Summary
First Semester
Students learned about forms of energy and how policies and geography affect its production, usage, and distribution. Specific topics surrounded students' interests and included aspects of climate change, innovations and the future, energy in the news, and international issues. At the end of the semester, interns gave energy-related presentations to fellow students at Mishawaka High School.
Second Semester
Students learned about the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically those related to energy. During class discussions, students considered how the SDGs applied to the world, their hometown communities, their school, and their personal lives. At the end of the semester, students presented their research projects during a poster session held on Notre Dame’s campus for their families, friends, Mishawaka High School's board members, teachers and administrators, as well as their laboratory mentors.
Photos from previous poster sessions can be viewed at: 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016.
Program Impact
From 2013-2024, 77 students were enrolled in the program and 17 different ND Energy faculty affiliates and their research groups participated in the program: Kyle Bibby, Peter Burns, Jon Camden, Kyle Doudrick, Ruilan Guo, Gregory Hartland, Jason Hicks, Amy Hixon, Vlad Iluc, Boldizsár Jankó, Svetlana Neretina, William Phillip, Adrian Rocha, Antonio Simonetti, Emily Tsui, Na Wei, Joannes Westerink.
Students have continued their education, mostly in chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, and pre-med at universities such as Butler University, Hamilton University, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University South Bend, Purdue University, Saint Mary’s College, University of Indianapolis, University of Notre Dame, and Trine University.
2023 News Story
2022 WNIT Segment
This video was produced by WNIT in 2022, highlighting the Notre Dame-Mishawaka High School Internship Program with comments from interns and ND Energy team members.
2019 Mishawaka High School Video
This video was produced by Mishawaka High School in 2019, showcasing the Notre Dame-Mishawaka High School Internship Program, starting three mintues and 41 seconds (3:41) into the segment, and featuring Elizabeth Harvey, program intern.