August 16, 2006
Intern learns inner workings of SIUC's museum
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A Southern Illinois teen is learning the inner workings of the University Museum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Jalessa Carter, a recent graduate of Carbondale Community High School, is a participant in Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's Summer Youth Works project. The program provides museums across Illinois with high school intern slots for an eight-week period. The purpose is to provide a quality work experience via a museum-based project.
"My experience at the University Museum has definitely given me a different view of museums," Carter said. "I gained a healthy respect for them and for all the behind-the-scenes care and record keeping that is necessary."
Carter has worked in the exhibits and collection areas of the University Museum. Working with museum exhibits designer Nate L. Steinbrink, Carter helped construct display tables and worked on lighting exhibits. At the museum archives, which hold more than 60,000 pieces, registrar Carla J. Smith taught Carter the complex system of databasing.
"It has been a pleasure to have Jalessa with us this summer," said Dona R. Bachman, director of the University Museum. "She is bright and hard working and fit in well."
This fall, Carter will enter SIU Edwardsville, where she will major in nursing and minor in Spanish.
Offering education and training activities for a variety of pre-adult age groups is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.
Jaleesa Carter
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