The Jean Frazier Leadership Institute (JFLI) at Sacred Heart Schools integrates the Ursuline core value of leadership daily through its innovative leadership development program that helps develop Sacred Heart Schools students as leaders and learners. It is the only program of its kind in Louisville schools and now JFLI can say, in a way, it wrote the book on how to successfully manage and grow real-world internship opportunities for students.
JFLI Program Manager Lauren Coffey, along with lead author Dr. Michael G. Strawser, and Stephanie A. Smith, proudly published The Internship Handbook this autumn. The book offers educators, students, and others qualified advice and learning on growing your future through internships, mentoring, and careful career planning. The project began about two years ago when Coffey met with Dr. Strawser, as she completed her graduate program at Bellarmine University. Strawser was her graduate advisor, who invited her to collaborate on several projects, including the book.
“My [graduate program] research all connects through this project,” said Coffey. “The Internship Handbook was born through our collaboration. It’s rooted in research and best practices for experiential learning and high impact practices, and internships fall under that umbrella. What’s different about this particular project is that yes, it encompasses research, but it is highly reflective and is centered as a workbook.”
The Internship Handbook is designed to prepare students and then guide them through the internship experience. It combines theoretical knowledge to help readers better understand their personalities, traits, values, and strengths with practical activities such as discussion questions and activities to streamline the internship process.
“It walks students through the initial phases of self-discovery and self-awareness in terms of identifying career interests and then walks them through the journey of discovering an opportunity, applying for that internship, building a resume and cover letter, networking, and how all of those work together to lead to a successful search,” said Coffey.
From there, the book preps students for the interview experience, cultivating mentors, networking, and how to maximize their time at the internship. “These are skills many of us need to manage in life, but the book also looks at the current state of internships,” added Coffey. “It touches on generational trends, virtual experiences, remote work, and the workplace changes brought on by the 2020 pandemic and its aftermath. That all aligns with the JFLI philosophy in guiding students to career and leadership opportunities beyond their time at Sacred Heart. It all starts with that self-discovery, and we incorporate reflection into all our exercises, and all our programs and activities.”
As JFLI Program Manager, Lauren works hand-in-hand with SHA students ensuring their success in JFLI’s experiential learning opportunities, primarily the Charles Kane Family Internship Program, while growing the program through community and alumnae partnerships. She also fosters leadership development programming at Sacred Heart Model School, helping the young learners embark on their leadership journey.
The Internship Handbook is a welcome tool to aid in the growth of the JFLI internship program. Student internships are no longer just fetching coffee and doing menial tasks. “The goal is to give the students meaningful work where the student can see how they're going to directly contribute to the organization and make a lasting impact there,” explained Coffey.
The JFLI program encourages students and their internship site mentors to reflect on how the student developed throughout their experience. Through this evaluation, JFLI can better understand the desire for alums to reconnect with campus to host and mentor students. “What is perhaps more significant is that nearly 90% of all internship supervisors, even non-alums, would host a Sacred Heart Academy student again,” added Coffey. “These leaders see our students as showing up, contributing in a meaningful way, eagerly asking questions, being professional in the workplace, and providing impact in many of the ways college-level interns accomplish.”
The Jean Frazier Leadership Institute has grown exponentially since its founding in 2017, including the addition of the Lucy Lee Helm ’75 Leadership Pillar, inspiring and empowering all Sacred Heart students by continually adding authentic leadership experiences, opportunities, and programming. A record number of Sacred Heart Academy students took full advantage of the Charles Kane Family Internship Program through the Jean Frazier Leadership Institute this summer, representing a 30% increase over last summer.
In the program, 53 students interned at 44 organizations throughout the city in the summer of 2024. Nearly 50% of interns completed experiences in the healthcare industry. Other industries included business, law, engineering, and the nonprofit and government sectors. After a one-year pilot program, JFLI launched an official elective course this academy year, which enables students to intern off-site during the school day in addition to serving on the Ursuline Campus. Sacred Heart Schools is proud to cultivate a culture of servant leadership and empowering our students to share their gifts with the world.
The Internship Handbook is published by Cognella Academic Publishing and is available for purchase online at Amazon and other retail book outlets.