Sandy Museum Takes on Training AntFarm Interns

By Abby Haney, Sandy Historical Society 

Sandy Historical Society Museum's goal is to support the community. In order to accomplish this, they have hired interns from local organizations, one of them being AntFarm. 

The interns at the museum are with the Community Work Program (CWP) which teaches youth how to build skillsets in order to succeed in job markets. This includes undergoing mock interviews, writing cover letters, resumes, and more. 

“This program is designed to help transition the high school age group into the adult workforce,” Echo Engstrom said. Engstrom is the Point Person for the AntFarm Community Work Program. Through all of this, they are learning professional skills that are needed to acquire a job. 

“We are really focused on workskills and trying to instill these workskills in our youth,” Engstrom said. 

“The main goal is that they are going to have those real life experiences," Manager of Estacada AntFarm Angela Davis said. Davis works in the Community Work Program for AntFarm. At the museum specifically, they are assisting in organizing as the museum focuses on their collection assessment and digitizing artifacts for people to eventually view online. 

“A lot of what they are doing at the museum is cleaning up and organizing things and that’s a very useful skill that can be transferred almost everywhere,” Engstrom said. 

CWP has six sectors they have focused on. The Public Sector is one of them, and the museum is providing the interns. They are learning foundational skills to be transferred to other jobs in the future. 

“It’s definitely giving them basic communication skills,” Davis said. “all those basic skills they need to transfer into other job opportunities.” The museum additionally  provides hours structured around interns' circumstances,  such as school schedules. 

“[Museum Director Nicole O’Neill] realizes the importance of the schooling that the interns need. There’s more flexibility in the hours available [at the museum],” Davis said. 

AntFarm frequently visits high schools and has their youth hub, which provides opportunities for youth, such as the CWP. The museum is assisting by providing the last step in this program, the internship hours, as they look to support the youth in congruence with AntFarm.