Farewell to our summer intern, Brooke!

Hello everyone! My name is Brooke Patzner. At the beginning of the summer I made a blog post discussing my excitement as a Summer intern with GiGi’s Playhouse. With it being completely virtual, it was something new we all were getting used to and learning how to navigate various programs and teaching methods throughout the summer. I have had a wonderful experience and I wanted to share a little bit about my time interning with this amazing organization as well as future plans!

I started my internship back in May and finish this Friday, July 31^st. I had the opportunity to teach the following programs: Destination Discovery, GiGi’s Kitchen Teens/Adults and Art Explosion as Live programs. I also was a math and literacy tutor during the week. My favorite program was teaching Art Explosion. I came up with weekly craft activities and it allowed me to utilize my creativity to create a fun and stimulating environment all online! It was amazing to see the participants engage in the activities and express their creativity as well. Overall, I loved seeing the growth throughout all the programs with each participant.

This internship allowed me to learn more about not only GiGi’s Playhouse in Des Moines, but all the programs and opportunities offered throughout the country. I was able to enhance my skills working with a wide range of individuals and they taught me more than I ever expected! I loved seeing every morning or afternoon the smiles on participants faces when we were starting a new program of the day. It has left a lasting impact.

I will be graduating from Iowa State this November and have worked on my major, Child, Adult and Family Services as well as a minor in Psychology. I am open to various job opportunities as I have many passions! I would love to work with adolescents who struggle with mental health disorders and have a dream of partnering with a nonprofit organization, potentially overseas one day. I am very passionate about international volunteering and have been to Haiti numerous times as well as Africa this past summer. Once traveling fully opens back up, I plan on continuing my international volunteer experiences. I am very excited to see what my future holds and would like to thank Gigi’s Playhouse for having an inclusive environment for not only the participants, but staff, volunteers, and interns as myself.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer, and hopefully the Playhouse will be opening up as soon as possible!