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Paige Nemec
12 April 2020
KINS 4303
Reflection
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Introduction

My name is Paige Nemec and I had the opportunity to intern at Jacob’s Ladder in

Roswell, Georgia for the 2020 Spring semester. Jacob’s Ladder is a neurodevelopmental school

and therapy center that serves students with various behavioral and neurological challenges-

from Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Brain Injury to a range

of learning disabilities and genetic disorders. Amy O’Dell, the founder of Jacob’s Ladder, her

son Jacob was born with significant developmental delays. Although they faced a feeling of

helplessness throughout part of his childhood, she believed she could help him reach his full

potential. By studying the brain-based neurodevelopmental approach, Amy began to develop the

Whole-Brain Model of Care. Through a customized activity program, she began to see the

creation of new capacity and reorganization in Jacob’s brain. Jacob's growth and change was

vast, measurable, and replicable. She saw a need for other families like hers which then began

Jacob’s Ladder in 1999. There are now two locations, Roswell and Buckhead. The staff members

that work at Jacobs’s Ladder all encompass the core values of hope, truth, and love. Hope is a

cherished trust in transformation and a life lived through possibilities. Truth is integrity in

action, character and speech based on what is accurate and honest. Love always hopes and

perseveres, regardless of circumstances and is a choice we make to value and honor another with

our actions. Their mission is to change lives by changing the brain. They believe that every brain

is capable of growth no matter what diagnosis. The Interpersonal Whole-Brain Model of Care

transforms lives by helping children develop a better-connected brain through the

implementation of a customized plan of care in a safe, loving environment. 

Description of Experiences
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As an intern, my job include observing and assisting a teacher with the implementation of

our neurodevelopmental program model in a classroom environment, and/or interacting with

students who have a variety of physical, social and emotional needs. I am with a group of

students in a program called Compass. These students range from age eighteen and up and are

more independent. These older students are looking for educational planning, vocational training,

community enrichment, and home life readiness. Typically, most mornings I wait at carpool to

pick one of the students to go to the classroom to start the day. The Compass schedule is usually

the same week to week but can be flexible if needed. Every day is started by clocking in

followed by some sort of physical activity to get the body awake, alert, and ready for the day.

This may include running program, going on the elliptical/ treadmill, or moving along with a

simple workout video. Mondays we go to Your Pie to help with the prep work. The tasks the

students complete consist of unstacking chairs, wiping down tables, cleaning windows, refilling

parmesan cheese/ red pepper flake jars, folding pizza boxes, filling up cups of marinara, etc. My

role is to supervise the students and help when needed. Some of the things I have to help them

with is time management, how much sauce is appropriate to fill a cup, ect. Tuesdays and

Thursdays are when we go to the main building and help with admin type work. The students

will file papers and have to pay close attention to make sure they are filing the papers correctly.

Again, the teacher I am with, Chloe and I will split up and help the students if needed.

Wednesdays and Fridays, we make a trip to the Milton Library and help reshelf the library

books. I am just there to check over their work to see if they reshelf the books correctly. On

Wednesdays before the library we also do inventory/stocking for items in the classroom. On

Fridays the students are in charge of the coffee cart. This means that they take orders from staff

and prepare the coffee as well. This is when I have to intervene the most because I have to help
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some students communicate and stay on topic. At the end of each day, I help log the progress of

how the day went. I have really enjoyed going off campus to places like Your Pie and the

Library because I get to see the skills they practice being put to use in a job like setting. I think

being in these kinds of settings will eventually help them to get a job. The most challenging

aspect is communication. Some of the students communicate differently so it is difficult to be

able to reach more than one student with the same communication technique. Because I was an

intern, I did not have a lot of authority. I wish I could have done more to help the teacher that I

work with. I would help her prepare lessons and enter data from each week into this system. She

had a lot of emails to send out each week, so whenever I logged how each day, I tried to be as

detailed as possible. This would help her when it came time to update parents on how the week

went.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

My internship did meet my personal expectations. I was not quite sure what to expect, but

the first time I went to observe I was amazed by how well all of the teachers worked with their

students. Every teacher has so much compassion for their job and the students they work with.

Although Jacob’s Ladder is a neurodevelopmental school and therapy center, I was surprised

how positive the environment is all the time. It is so awesome to be able to experience an

environment like Jacob’s Ladder. It was easy to get up each morning and being able to work at

such a wonderful place surrounded by kind people. Because this is a private school, there are

many rules and regulations put in place as any other school. This did not stop Jacob’s Ladder to

be open to my ideas and contributions. On Monday’s we go to your pie, and we normally ride in

one car all together, but another student started coming to your pie as well on Mondays and we

did not have any more room in the car. I suggested that I could drive one student to you pie and it
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was approved. I did not directly come into contact with the site supervisor very often, but I was

with the lead teacher of Compass every day. I assume my progress and updates were sent to my

site supervisor. I did meet with my site supervisor a few times to check in and I gave her

feedback about everything thus far. This is the first year the Compass program has started, so I

understand that there are still things that need to be worked out. But if compass was more

developed, I think I would have enjoyed my experience even more. As of right now there are

only two different sites that the compass students work at regularly. I think it would be great if

there was another site that the students can work at to get exposure to different working

environments. I would recommend this setting to future interns because it is a unique experience

working with this population. As tough as it may be sometimes, it is also rewarding by the

connections you are able to make. I would consider a career path in this setting because I have a

passion for serving others and working with this certain population.

Internship Preparedness

Academically, I think that I was well prepared for my internship. I was not as confident

socially towards the beginning because I was not sure how to respond to some of the students,

but I quickly picked up on how I should respond by learning form the teacher I was with. The

concepts and experiences I learned from community health and health promotion and program

planning, methods of health promotion. I think that letting people I work with as well as the

students being able to trust me has been a major part of my success during my internship. In

community health we learned that it is important to let people trust you because that is how

relationships are built. It is also a part of the Jacob’s Ladder methodology, hope, truth and love. I

also think that the class promotion and program planning class helped as well when it came to

my project and the steps needed to take for my project to be successful. Methods of health
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promotion was helpful for the professional aspect. For instance, practicing for interviews was

beneficial when it came time for my interview for my internship. Reviewing professional

etiquette such as what is an appropriate way to email your boss or coworker, what may be

appropriate to wear to work, and much more were inciteful as well. I think that Georgia

College/School of Health and Human Performance do a great job to prepare public health

students for real life application of public health concepts and for future employment. I

especially think that the courses senior year are more relatable when getting ready for

employment. I am glad that we are required to do an internship to complete our degree because I

think that was a good push for myself, and I do not think I would be where I am without that

push.

Internship Performance

During my internship I was able to learn how to intentionally interact and care for this

unique population. The environment at Jacob’s Ladder was designed to fit the needs to the

students, this way students can reach their full potential. I also learned how to communicate in a

professional setting as well. I am not the best at communication, but at work this is a crucial

factor. I think that I communicated very well with Chloe. I made sure to communicate any

questions, or concerns that I had, and made it clear that I was there to help her. I also improved

my problem-solving skills. There were many situations where we would have to change the

whole day around, due to the weather or some other event. I was never given any specific

projects or presentations to work on but whatever work I was given, I made sure to always put

forth my best work. I volunteered to stay late or to come in early in order to help out. I am

satisfied with my performance throughout my internship. To be successful after graduation, I

need to be more comfortable presenting. Although I have come a long way, presentations have
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always been my weakness. I do not feel confident or comfortable when presenting which is

something I defiantly need to work on if I want to be successful after graduating.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

As far as my personal goals, my internship helped me accept change more. I am someone

who likes to have the same routine, just as my student do. It is difficult for me to accept change

in different aspects of my life, but my internship has allowed me to embrace it. I am able to

embrace change more easily because I know that this is something that is difficult for my

students to. I want to be able to lead by example. For my professional goals, I just wanted to be

able to gain new experience. I was able to gain a multifaceted and comprehensive learning

experience in addition to witnessing a holistic, individualized and brain-based approach to the

care and education of differently abled children, adolescents, teenagers and adults. I am grateful

for the opportunity to have gained experience at Jacob’s Ladder specifically because I think that

this experience will help me with future endeavors. I was able to attain my academic goal by

trying my best and working hard. I have become more confident, listen actively, and get along

with others. Part of getting along with others is to listen to other people’s thoughts and opinions.

I listen and try to ask open ended questions to let people know that I value what they have to say.

By listening to others, I am able to looks for ways I can relate to them which then creates a

relationship. Jacob’s Ladder is a special organization that helps serve this unique population to

reach their full potential. This type of education and growth would not be possible in a typical

school setting. Students are able to feel safe which then allows them to form interpersonal

relationships that help shape and develop each student. I love that their mission is grounded in

science, guided by love, and delivered with a firm commitment to see beyond diagnoses, the
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intensive, individualized, research-based approach works for these students. There are many

success stories that prove this works.