Since fall 2024, Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) has welcomed a number of aspiring servent leaders to serve alongside #TeamHCDE as interns.

What started with one intern in 2024 quickly blossomed into four interns just 12 months later, as students gain real-world career skills and learn how the Department serves county stakeholders and community partners.

So, as the temperature drops and the calendar turns to September, HCDE welcomes this quartet for the semester. There are current University of Houston students: one pursuing a graduate degree and two set to graduate in December. And the fourth – a high school senior looking to expand her resume – is the daughter of an HCDE employee.

All four share a common goal – building on their foundations of serving others.

“Anything I can do here and any impact I can make in any way, if it helps a student or if it helps a person, then I’ll be grateful for that,” said Danielle Redhead, a graduate student at UH who will intern for HCDE’s Center for Afterschool, Summer and Enrichment (CASE) for Kids.

Here’s a look at all four:

Wilmer Guevara, Civic Engagement

Everything was set for Guevara to match with HCDE. He applied through the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs’ Civic Houston Internship Program, interviewed well and even listed civic engagement as his top interest for work.

But while fellow students learned about their matches before the semester started, Guevara didn’t hear anything.

Not until the day of orientation.

“I was a little worried,” Guevara admitted. “At orientation, I heard people talking around me and they had their matches already. I was one of a few who hadn’t.”

Avery Spranger, HCDE’s Civic Engagement Coordinator, eased his worry with one phone call, and set up Guevara to join the Department’s initiative of educating local students and their families about government and policy.

Guevara began his internship on Sept. 8, meeting Spranger, Civic Engagement Specialist Arnaldo Sandoval-Guerrero and Chief of Staff Danielle Bartz.

“I’m very excited now,” he said. “I was pretty nervous coming in, but I’m ready to get hands on and learn and find out if civic engagement is really for me or see if my interests are somewhere else.”

Guevara’s big goals are to learn how and why people vote and go through an election process, while also informing those who don’t have access to all necessary information. It’s a challenge that’s personal to him.

“Growing up in one of those communities where there wasn’t enough information,” he said. “I had to learn a lot on my own and seek out that information, so I want to be able to pay it forward to others.”

Ja’Nae Henderson, Education Foundation of Harris County

HCDE prides itself on being a family-oriented and destination workplace, as evidenced by being named one of the top workplaces in America earlier this year.

 So, when a child of #TeamHCDE wants to volunteer and gain real-world experience, it only makes sense to start the search within the Department itself. Enter Ja’Nae Henderson, a senior at Aldine Independent School District’s Victory Early College High School and the daughter of IT Project Manager Taneeka Henderson.

“I asked my mom if she had anybody at her job that needed a volunteer,” Ja’Nae said.

Taneeka connected with Education Foundation and Partnerships Director Trina Silva, and the match fit. Henderson has experience in event planning, be it on a smaller scale, with organizations at school. A club she’s currently in, for example, is preparing a program for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Within an hour on her first day, Henderson was already working with Silva on gathering potential sponsors for an EFHC golf fundraiser scheduled for later this semester.

Among her goals is learning operations on a larger scale, and of course, helping HCDE serve Harris County learners.

“It’s important to give back to others, especially in the education space,” Henderson said. “When I was younger, I had some friends and know of others who were not as privileged. I would see them get backpacks and school supplies from places like Harris County Department of Education, so I thought that was very generous.”

Danielle Redhead, CASE for Kids

Admittingly, Redhead knows there’s some pressure on her. CASE for Kids routinely offered interns from UH and its Graduate College of Social Work in years past.

Redhead is the division’s first intern in at least a dozen years, and brings a positive energy that complements a team already full of enthusiasm.

“I’ve done a lot of things and I have a resume that has all the different things – starting an organization, being a board member and others – but this has been very helpful in getting hands-on learning immediately,” she said. “I’ve worked at other places and because of my title as intern, I wasn’t always treated as an equal.

“Whereas here, I’ve only been here for a few days, and of course there’s still a learning curve for me, but everyone has been so supportive and welcoming.”

Redhead will be with CASE for Kids for two semesters to complete 500 hours as she works through her accelerated master’s program. The benefit is she will see a full year of the division’s offerings to Harris County students.

She’s ready to jump in, whether its graphic design or social media.

“From what I’ve seen so far and what I envision for the future, it’s taking some of what I already know and building on that,” Redhead said. “I think I have a pretty solid foundation, but there are areas where I want to grow and learn.”

Maya Wheelwright, Education Foundation of Harris County

One of two students this semester through the Hobby School of Public Affairs’ Civic Houston Internship Program, Wheelwright’s first dealings with HCDE came through another internship.

She served with the Mayor’s Office of Education & Youth Empowerment last fall and her orientation was at the Department’s Irvington building.

“I remembered where to park,” Wheelwright laughed. “But not much else about the organization itself.”

Working with HCDE’s philanthropic arm and Education Foundation and Partnerships Director Trina Silva is a new direction Wheelwright was seeking out. She said learning the structure of a nonprofit organization is intriguing, as are the numerous initiatives in which EFHC gives back to students and communities.

Initially as a psychology major, Wheelwright changed to political science as she wanted to learn more about how government works from an academic perspective. She always had a love of learning – Wheelwright’s mother was a longtime educator – so marrying the governance and policy with education is her charge.

“The most valuable thing I learned is there are kids who want these resources and want to excel. These are smart kids and they’re not going to just disappear,” said Wheelwright, who also interned at the Smith Neighborhood Library and is considering a master’s degree in library science. “I would wake up wanting to go to work every day, be part of a team and serve others.”