STARKVILLE – Ever since his freshman year, Logan Kroner knew he wanted to be a first responder, but he was not sure which kind.

That was until a recent internship through Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s 21st Century program gave him hands-on experience rolling hose lines and doing live burn training with the Starkville Fire Department.

Now the choice is obvious, he said.

“I plan on joining the fire department here,” Kroner told The Dispatch. “I’m not committed. I haven’t signed anything, but I definitely plan on doing that after I graduate.”

Kroner, along with 15 other Starkville High School juniors and seniors, took part in paid internships during the summer with partners like the city of Starkville, Starkville Utilities and Mail Managers through the new program at Millsaps Career and Technology Center.

After applying in August 2025 for a Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant to fund the program, Brandi Burton, SOCSD Discovery Center director of educational enhancement and innovative research, said Millsaps’ program was approved for a $1.6 million grant to be disbursed annually in $400,000 awards.

The program places Starkville juniors and seniors in paid internships in career fields they have an interest in pursuing after graduation, including in trade jobs, emergency response careers and other civic jobs, Rob Fyke, work-based learning coordinator, told The Dispatch.

Once placed in those internships, students receive hands-on experience with leaders in their selected fields. Partner companies then bill the Discovery Center, which pays for the students’ wages through the grant funding, Burton said.

Burton said the district’s 21st Century-funded program is the first in the state to use its funding for an internship program like this for high school students.

“We’re really excited about that,” Burton said. “And we just wanted to not only give our community partners the opportunity to see what our students could do, but let our students do some learning in real-world environments, and then it’s really just a win-win.”

While other internship programs at Millsaps have been entirely focused on students enrolled in work-based learning classes, this initiative differs in that it’s open to any Starkville High School students over the age of 16, Fyke said.

Fyke said the program has placed 17 students with internships this fall, with the majority being returners from last year. Those students will begin their internships Sept. 8.

Kylie Tuggle, a senior at SHS, said she plans to pursue a career in law and hopes to one day become a district attorney.

After working with Starkville’s human resource department this summer, Tuggle said she has a greater appreciation now for how laws and ordinances are constructed and is looking forward to returning later this fall.

“I would say it just helped me know a lot that I didn’t know was going on within the community,” Tuggle said.

Now that the program is well underway with its second cohort, Fyke said his next goal is to add additional partners throughout the city and continue to expand its offerings.

“The 21st Century Grant and the funding for that fits very well into (work-based learning) because not only are we able to get the students that are in this program the hours that they need in order to get the credit, but we’re also able to pay them,” Fyke said. “And what that does is it allows us to utilize places that we couldn’t utilize. … So it fits like a glove in the work-based learning. … So our goal going forward is to try to reach out to students that aren’t down here with us in Millsaps every single day.”