The League of Education Voters (LEV) benefits from the help, expertise, and hard work of summer interns. We recently interviewed our field intern, Raymond Fenton, who is pursuing his degree at Lewis & Clark College. Read more about his background and his experience at LEV, in his own words.

What was the focus of your internship at LEV?

As an intern, I did a lot of basic administrative work, like answering phones, taking messages, and documentation. However, I also had the opportunity to work on high-stakes tasks. For example, I played a major role in the preparation and support for the State Board of Education’s public hearing on the rules for the College and Career Ready Diploma and the Parents Partnering in Education Summit in Sunnyside, Washington.

Preparing for these events included inter-departmental meetings, and a lot of planning, visual design, and interpersonal communication on my part. While at the events, along with making sure that everything was running as planned, I took photos and live-tweeted. I also prepared for these events through blogging, sending press releases, and sending email blasts.

While interning, I also conducted research and wrote reports for LEV’s policy and field departments. In one of these reports, I had the opportunity to use both my quantitative and qualitative analysis skills to analyze each presenter’s success after the Parents Partnering in Education Summit.

Toward the end of my internship, I had the chance to create a strategic plan to launch an ad campaign. That was fun, difficult, and confusing at the same time, but it allowed me to start relationship building with other organizations around early learning. Finally, I brushed up on my interviewing and data collection skills through story-banking exercises as well as through some videography work. Read More