Raya Parks, senior at Howell High School was awarded this month for her outstanding achievements through Howell’s Co-Op program. Every month, the school provides a $10 Kilt Shack gift card to the recipient. This award can be achieved by hard-work, dedication, and passion, all of which are qualities Parks displays.

Co-Op is a program that enables students to leave school and go to work. At the same time, the student is earning credits and gets to leave school up to three hours early to make money. A student can enroll in Co-Op when they are a junior or a senior.

Raya Parks is in her second year in Co-Op, as well as her second year of her paid internship at Promess, located in Brighton. She started her internship in October of 2013, and has dedicated her time to Promess. She works the maximum 24 hours every week. Parks designs advertisements, brochures, and flyers, researches companies and contacts them if she feels they are a fit for Promess, and the other small things her boss doesn’t have time to do. Not only does she help with the marketing department, she also spends a good chunk of her time with the sales, administrative, and the engineers that work at Promess.

Promess is known as the “manufacturer of complete turnkey monitoring and motion systems used in a wide variety of Assembly and Test applications around the world,” according to their website, www.promessinc.com.

Working at Promess as an intern is well worth it for Parks. She loves that her edits and designs get to be viewed throughout the United States.

“I love my job! Everyone talks about dream jobs and how in order to be happy, you have to love what you are doing. There are some days where I don’t feel like going into work or I get bored, but overall I love it,” Parks says.

Parks feels as if being at Promess will benefit her future. She does not know where she wants to go to college yet, but she definitely wants to go. Promess has asked Parks to continue working with them for the next two years while she attends college. Not only does this internship look good on a resume, she feels lucky to have a job that cares about her future.

“I have learned so much from them, not just about marketing strategies, but what the real world is like,” Parks says.

Promess has learned much from Parks as well. Elizabeth Johnson is Parks’ boss, and the woman who nominated Raya Parks for Co-Op Student of the Month.

“Raya is a great employee. She is a hard worker and is always willing to go above and beyond what is expected. She is creative and always willing to share her ideas,” Johnson said on Parks’ Co-Op student of the month nomination sheet.

Co-Op is not a well enough known program at Howell. It provides students with real life opportunities and a “sneak peek of what it might  be like in the future, going to college and working,” Parks sums it up nicely. “It’s almost like you are getting paid to take class!” she says.

Everyone should get to experience a profession that they love. Parks is doing just that, all while she is still so young. Raya Parks is one of the many Co-Op students, but deserves to be recognized because of the commitment and enthusiasm she has for her intern.

Parks says, “I have to say it has been amazing experience so far. Working at Promess has helped me grow as a person and it seems like it can only help me more.”