BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (OBV) – Bartlesville High School senior Owen May is getting the training he needs to flourish in his future career thanks to his internship at Phillips 66 Bartlesville Business Operations & Innovation Center.
May heads to Bartlesville’s downtown each weekday for his two-hour internship.
He spends those hours working on various projects in the Human Resources department – hours of experience that are equipping him with knowledge and skills that will benefit him for the rest of his life.
“I’ve always felt like I provide value. I receive real assignments. I feel like I’ve done pretty much the same work as everyone else,” May said.
The training was part of an internship program created by Bartlesville High School.
Bartlesville High School established their internship program to help kids get hands-on with their future careers.
The internship has been illuminating for May, shining a light on his future career.
“I’m more sure that business is the correct career path for me,” he said. “I know I want to stay local and that oil and gas is a big deal in Oklahoma. So, yeah, I feel more sure about my future.”
Work-based education like May’s internship can now count as credit towards graduation thanks to the Graduation Act of 2024.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 3278 into law in May, expanding graduation requirements to include career-readiness training.
HB 3278 requires eighth through 12th grade students in Oklahoma public schools to complete modified graduation requirements starting in the 2025-26 school year.
The modified requirements include four math courses, including Algebra I and either Algebra II or Geometry.
Students must also complete six Individualized Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) pathway units that can span a range of subjects and career paths selected by the district board of education. New requirements also include a postsecondary-approved full-time CareerTech program or locally approved science-based application course to satisfy the required physical science unit.
The purpose of the modifications is to provide students training and education that will prepare them to enter the workforce upon graduation and start their career with the skills they will need to succeed.
The ultimate goal is to create better outcomes for young Oklahomans by better aligning students career paths for future success, making more students college-, career- or military-ready – whichever pathway is best for them.
“They get that experience and it allows them to figure out, ‘Is this something that I want to continue to pursue?’ So many times in the past we would say, ‘Are they collegebound? Are they college-ready?’ We want, through the internship program, to make them life-ready and work-ready,” said Anthony Tucker, Bartlesville High School’s internship director.
Scott Bilger, who is with Phillips 66 and is a member of the Bartlesville School Board, said providing internships to local high school students is an obviously beneficial thing to do.
“This is an opportunity for us to give real world experience. As a future employer, as a student, what a great opportunity to, find out, ‘Hey, I think this is what I want to do, but let’s go find out. Let’s go see if this is really the good fit that I think it is. And before I go spend four years or two years, whatever it may be – eight years – studying this, let’s go find out if I really think this is the fit,'” Bilger said.
Bartlesville High School has around 65 interns this year working in a number of fields all over Washington County.
Tucker sees the potential for student internships across Oklahoma.
“The internship program is a workforce development tool for any community out there. And for every Bartlesville, there’s a Nowata, there’s an Alva, there’s an Altus that needs something like this so they can grow and retain their own workforce,” Tucker said. “So, if you can reduce the barriers of entry, just basic free market principles so that we reduce the liability on our business partners, that’s going to open up more doors for our young Oklahomans so they’re not going out to Texas, they’re not leaving to California and to the East Coast, they’re staying here in Oklahoma.”
Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from internships. The training from internships develop a talented workforce that will carry Oklahoma into the future.
May and other students know internships are a great path towards their future careers.
“School is only until the end of high school or only until the end of college. But [with] an internship – especially one where you’re getting really valuable experience – you’re setting yourself up for the future and thinking about your next steps,” May said. “I would definitely recommend it to to anyone.”
