Flying the Nest: The 2026 Community Learning Interns Graduate

On a warm October evening, surrounded by friends, families, and mentors, Kitsap Regional Library's eleventh cohort of Community Learning Interns graduated. The Community Learning Internship empowers young adults to explore their interests and ideas through job shadowing with community partners and the Library, develop a research project in a supportive environment, and earn paid work experience. The interns present their projects at an after-hours graduation held at the Bremerton - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. branch each fall. 

"Last year, we celebrated the program's ten-year anniversary. Now, we look to the future as we celebrate this fine group of interns, completing 360 hours of job shadowing and project management," said Megan Burton, the program's STEM and Learning Supervisor. "This year has been extra special. The individuals graduating from the program tonight have unique perspectives and their own paths to walk."

The 2026 cohort was selected from a record-breaking number of nearly 50 applications. The five young adults bonded unusually quickly, referring to the group affectionately as "The Ducklings" and even adopting a linocut print of ducklings in a pond as their unofficial symbol. During their fall graduation, each intern presented a slideshow on their experiences over the previous eight months, showcasing their final project, and sharing how the internship prepared them to take the next step in their career. 

Halima Kuogouindiga - Studied how stress impacts animal behavior, writing a news article on her findings. Part of her research involved job shadowing at PAWS of Bremerton. Halima also helped with library outreach at the Bremerton Farmer's Market, a Curious Critters by Casai event in Manchester, and the Wayzgoose Kitsap Festival. She hopes to be a veterinarian in the future. 

Angelica Susa - Created a booklet all about the OB/GYN sonographer career field for prospective students. The booklet provides an overview of the profession and outlines the education, skills, and certification requirements. Angelica hopes to eventually become a traveling OB/GYN sonographer. Her project helped her develop her professional communication and design skills and gain a better understanding of potential career paths.

Lara Barnett - Filmed and produced the short documentary "Adolescent Girls and Math Ability: What's Going On." After academically struggling with math, she'd heard similar stories from women and girls of all ages, so she wanted to understand why it was such a common challenge. To create her documentary, Lara learned to edit in DaVinci Resolve and used Library equipment to film interviews and background footage, before publishing her final video to YouTube. She also attended a League of Women Voters meeting, gave a presentation at the Homeless and Housing Coalition, and interviewed Anna Pastor, a previous Community Learning Intern, who is now in law school. Lara is considering pursuing a career in law and public service.

Atticus Dobbin - Designed a brochure promoting the Community Learning Internship and developed his professional art and design skills. Atticus applied for the program after volunteering at the Sylvan Way branch and spent much of his internship learning about project management and library system operations, as well as volunteering with community organizations like Bremerton Foodline. Atticus is an artist, so the new program brochure features many illustrations of ducklings performing various internship tasks. He is considering pursuing a career as a movie stunt performer or as an automotive mechanic. 

Karsten Moses - Created a game design document for his video game, "The Lost Magicians," that features three friends and their dog working to save the world. Karsten's game design includes puzzle-solving, exploration, and turn-based battles with rhythm game mechanics. "I'm planning on starting work on it tonight, and I will hopefully have it finished sometime in the next ten years," he told the graduation audience. Karsten plans to go to piano technician school to become a professional piano tuner. During the internship, Karsten explored this career path by job shadowing at the Kitsap History Museum, where he tuned the piano of Quincy Jones, which sits on display in the museum lobby.

The unofficial theme of the night, repeated by every intern, was their appreciation for the bond the five formed over the course of the internship.

"We wish the interns well as they embark on their future journeys ahead. We are so very proud of you," said Megan. And the group of ducklings flocked together one last time for a photo. 

Want to learn more about the internship? We are actively recruiting for 2027! Kitsap County residents ages 16-25 are invited to apply between November 1 and 30. Apply to join the 2027 cohort by emailing your resume to jobs@krl.org, sbarnes@krl.org, and mburton@krl.org. We will get in touch with you about next steps. Email STEM@krl.org for more information.