When junior Morgan Graves found out she, along with junior Filsan Omar, had been chosen by Allina Health as one of two interns for the Change to Chill grant at Park, she said she was excited because it gives her a way to make her ideas a reality.

“I’ve been really excited about taking the next step to have more impact on (Natural Helpers) and I thought this would be a great opportunity to start that,” Graves said. “I was very excited but mainly because I’m excited to start actually implementing ideas that I’ve had.”

According to Natural Helpers adviser Allison Luskey, the interns were chosen by Allina Health and will be totally in charge of how the grant is used.

“Filsan and Morgan will be in charge of deciding the direction that the Change to Chill grant will go. They will be meeting with other high school students, collaborating and coming up with direction of what they would like to see done,” Luskey said.

Graves said through the internship they will develop a plan for how the Change to Chill grant will be used.

“The main goal of the internship is to create a plan and presentation for a chill space at your school. So basically a place for people to decompress or also meet with other natural helpers,” Graves said.

Luskey said she is excited the interns get to meet other students while working on the project.

“I think that it is pretty exciting; not only are they mixing and getting to know other students from other schools, but also kind of designing what the program will look like based on our student needs here,” Luskey said.

According to Luskey, the interns will learn lessons they can use throughout their lives.

“In every job you are collaborating with other people, that team aspect, that creativity piece, that leadership of deciding what will work best for our school, then bringing it back to Park and following through, which are all great learning experiences,” Luskey said.

Graves said the Change to Chill grant is important for the school because it can amplify the work Natural Helpers does.

“It is actually super awesome because currently (Natural Helpers) only has a small corner in the library, it’s not very private and it’s not very homey or comfortable,” Graves said. “So, I think having a chill space will be a really positive change for how Natural Helpers works.

Luskey said she likes how the interns have complete control over the grant without the influence of a teacher or adviser instructing them on what to do.

“What I like so much about this is that it is really student-led, there is no teacher or adviser who is telling them what to do because we really don’t know,” Luskey said. “I’m excited because the not knowing is really exciting and I think both Filsan and Morgan have been eager to take on more leadership opportunities, so I am excited to see them carry this out.”