Framing the Future: Internship Program Empowers Students and Gives Hope to Families

By Ashley Antle

When the Padilla family of Fort Worth adopted their son, Eduardo, from a town north of Mexico City when he was just 3 months old, they dreamed of giving him a future full of opportunities he likely wouldn’t have in Mexico. He was a tiny baby. So tiny, in fact, that even preemie clothes were too big for his little frame.

“Since he was given to us, the whole idea was to change his life with a better future and nicer opportunities,” said Eduardo’s father, who shares his son’s first name. “But the reality, at least in my case, has been the opposite. He’s been changing my life with a lot more motivation. Eduardo has always been a good son, a good brother, and I believe he’s a good citizen. He’s a good guy, a cool guy.”

But those opportunities didn’t come easy. Early in his childhood, Eduardo began to show signs of a learning disability, and the dreams his parents Eduardo Padilla and Karla Tamez once had for their middle son were dimmed at the reality of growing up in a world that often disqualifies those who are differently abled. Eduardo attended several schools, none of them a good fit, and his dad worried that he’d never learn to read or write.

For many parents, learning that their child has a developmental disability is one of the most difficult days of their lives. With the news comes a realization that special milestones parents often look forward to for their children — prom, a first date, college, holding a job, marriage and having children — may never become reality. 

“Their grief with the loss of these dreams comes in waves that hit at every missed milestone and with every announcement received from loved ones or seen on social media,” said Kimberly James-Kelly, assistant principal of the Jane Justin School at Cook Children’s Child Study Center, where Eduardo became a student.

The Jane Justin school is a state-of-the-art, individualized, evidence-based private school for children kindergarten through twelfth grade with developmental, intellectual and learning disabilities. With an annual enrollment of 90 students, it has both a Lower School for elementary through junior high education and an Upper School for high school and career readiness training. Through individualized learning plans, it is the vision of the Jane Justin School to develop capable scholars, responsible citizens, and loyal friends prepared to succeed in every step of their educational journey.

A Photographer is Born

Eduardo excelled at the Jane Justin School and his parents' doubts and fear quickly began to melt away. Not only did he learn to read and write, he achieved a number of educational milestones, including graduating from the Upper School in May 2024. Thanks to supportive parents who encouraged their son to find and pursue his talents, Eduardo also discovered a passion and gift for photography and video editing. Eduardo is now taking part in the Upper School’s Post-graduate Program where job coaches equip students with job skills and pair them with community organizations, including Cook Children’s Medical Center, for volunteer opportunities or internships that provide students on-the-job training.

The program helped Eduardo turn his photography talent into a marketable skill, and he landed an internship with Cook Children’s Public Relations and Communications Department, where he has worked for the past 18 months. He is the first Jane Justin School intern to become a hired employee at Cook Children’s.

“One of my favorite memories has to be going to the groundbreaking for the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood Health Center because I got to see the Mayor of Fort Worth and that’s pretty cool,” Eduardo said. “I got to see the whole team for the first time, and that was my first off-site from school. It was really cool.”

Cook Children’s became a partner in the intern program in 2022. Since then, the partnership has grown to now include three to five student interns per semester who work in various departments throughout the hospital. Other community partners hosting Jane Justin School students and volunteers include Tarrant Area Food Bank, Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, Ronald McDonald House and Welman Project.

“The Jane Justin School has done such an incredible job of preparing these students and they were looking for other partners to hire them,” said Wini King, senior vice president and Cook Children’s chief Communication & Employee Connections Officer. “These are our children. They are a part of the Cook Children’s family so it just made sense for the medical center to be one of those partners. So far, we’ve been able to place interns in Volunteer Services, Radiology, Zooty Fruity Yogurt Shop, Build-A-Bear and some of our retail spaces, and I’m extremely proud that they are also working in my own department.”

Eduardo has more than proven himself to be a valuable member of the communications team. He’s often called upon to photograph patients and families for stories that appear in the health system’s online newsroom, CheckupNewsroom.com, and to take photos at various medical center events. He even took many of the photos accompanying this article.

“At the beginning of Eduardo’s internship, he came in very shy, but as he became more comfortable with us and just photography in general, he’s become very proactive in his projects in that he’ll think of ideas of things to do or things to shoot,” said Sydney Hanes, Cook Children’s manager of Public Relations. “He’s very open and much more comfortable talking to everyone. We all love having him on the team.”

During his internship, Eduardo says he’s learned about various camera settings, video editing software, how to shoot different angles and how to get the perfect shot. The job, his dad says, changed Eduardo’s outlook.

“When he noticed that this was something with a future when they offered the opportunity to be an intern here helping with pictures and videos last year, that’s the first time that I really saw on his face a passion for something,” Eduardo’s father said.

From Classmates to Colleagues

Eduardo joins four other interns currently working at Cook Children’s.

Luke Harris and Zachary Pollack are the dynamic duo who travel throughout the medical center with the comfort cart, which is stocked with items such as toiletries and snacks to make a hospital stay a little more comfortable for children and families. The two are often a welcome sight, not only for their cart full of goodies but also for their enthusiasm and smiles.

Harris says he wanted to be an intern so he can “be a helpful person.” He doesn’t just enjoy his job, but loves it.

“I really like to take care of the patients, because I feel like I’m a superhero,” Harris said.

Pollack hails all the way from Edmond, Okla., where his family resides. He spends weekdays in Fort Worth with his grandparents in order to attend the Jane Justin School and travels home to Oklahoma every weekend to spend time with his parents. He recently passed his driver’s exam and is now a licensed driver.

Hannah Washington works at the medical center’s Build-A-Bear Workshop, a favored stop for patients and visitors alike. She helps keep the bears’ clothes and accessories stocked and organized, and does it all with a thankful heart.

“It makes me more grateful than ever,” Washington said of her internship.

Her favorite bear is the Fairy Bear because, like most things at Cook Children’s, it’s magical and enchanted, she says. Hannah has also worked in Radiology and at the Under the Peaks retail space. When she isn’t at school or work, you’ll find her singing. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are two of her favorite artists.  

Brooklyn Dilworth is an administrative ace. She works for a number of departments throughout the hospital making binders and folders that contain educational materials for patients. She also attends Tarrant County College where she is studying money management, math skills and taking cooking classes. Fried chicken is her favorite dish to cook. This holiday season, she’ll be rocking around the Christmas tree with fellow singers in the Jane Justin School choir as they present “Rock and Roll New Year’s Eve.”

As manager of Cook Children’s Volunteer Program, Marie Howell interacts with many of the Jane Justin School students and interns and says the departments and people who host them often learn as much from the interns as the interns learn from them.

“Our interns show us how to be understanding and empathetic, and how to tailor opportunities to the abilities that the person has,” Howell said. “We have a lot of people with different kinds of challenges, but there is a place for everybody. There's a task for everybody. It's just a matter of finding the right fit.”

Coaches of Confidence

All of the student interns are led by Jane Justin School job coaches. Together they help shepherd the students in their various roles and act as liaisons between the interns and their department managers.

“We go to the job with them, so we're just there basically as a support and to train them on those basic job duties,” said Courtney Galindo, Jane Justin School job coach. “Our main goal is that we can kind of transition out and that they're able to be independent in their job. We want to get them to that point. Eduardo is now an actual hired employee, which is amazing. He's the first one that we've had get to that point.”

The job coaches are key to the students’ success. Without them, says James-Kelly, students like Eduardo, Harris, Pollack, Washington and Dilworth wouldn’t have the opportunities that are presented to them.

“The contributions of our job coaches in the lives of these students are invaluable,” she said. “We have three incredible professional women who work alongside every single student that we serve in our school and help them achieve their goals with respect to their career and post-secondary education. That is a lot for three people but they do it with such grace and professionalism. They create a bond with our students that really helps to garner trust, not only within our community of families we serve, but within every organization that we enter.”

This job, Eduardo says, is an opportunity he never thought possible. He hopes his success will inspire others and pave the way for his classmates to use their skills and talents to achieve personal success while contributing to their communities and workplaces.

James-Kelly couldn’t agree more.

“The restoration of hope and the understanding that it is okay to want and expect more for your child is the best gift we can offer the families we serve,” James-Kelly said. “Eduardo’s story is a great example of this and I hope it inspires more like it in the future.”