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Baseball Hall of Fame Welcomes 2016 Class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns to Cooperstown

2016-06-02

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Cooperstown is usually the place where all-stars finish their careers. But for the young women and men who comprise the 2016 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development, the start of a new chapter in their professional lives is just beginning at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Eighteen college students arrived in Cooperstown this week, to begin a 10-week study in a variety of disciplines at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum between now and Aug. 5.

The 2016 class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns is pictured above. Top row, from left to right: Larry Brunt, Chris Shupenko, Troy Farkas, Joseph Kuykendall, Erik Breit, Zach McDonald, Jack Spooner, Sam Sinykin; Middle row, from left to right: Katie Walden, Katherine Acquavella, Peyton Tracy, Khephren Spigner, Dylan Drollette, Kimberly Hannigan; Bottom row, from left to right: Jon Shestakofsky (Vice President of Communications and Education), Katie Mackin, Nina Phan, Peggy Steele (Program Founder), Rachel Robertson, Katherine Adriaanse, Stephanie Hazzard (Director of Museum Education). (Milo Stewart Jr./ National Baseball Hall of Fame)

Now in its 16th year, the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development offers college undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to work alongside Museum and Library staff members to gain hands-on professional training in a field that closely matches the student’s major. Interns craft leadership and communication skills by attending career seminars hosted by Hall of Fame staff and community leaders, as well as participating in thematic public speaking in the Museum, and research and writing assignments that directly relate to the Museum mission.

In all, 18 students hailing from 17 colleges and universities will intern for Museum departments, including education, digital strategy, membership, multimedia, photo archives, collections, public relations, library research and sales and licensing. The 18 interns were selected from more than 500 applications from students nationwide.

In addition to completing 40 hours of work each week, interns will participate in a number of career seminars during the program, on topics such as networking, public speaking, community leadership, business etiquette and creating an innovative leadership style. In addition, every intern will host artifact spotlights – brief public presentations with in-depth stories about items in the Museum’s collections – in the Museum throughout the summer.

The internship program began in 2001 and has since welcomed more than 300 interns in an experience made possible by Peggy Steele, who endowed the program in honor of her late husband, Frank, and in his commitment to fostering education and leadership development.

The 2016 class of Frank and Peggy Steele Interns (name/university/department): Katherine Acquavella, St. John’s University (communications); Katherine Adriaanse, Drexel University (library research); Erik Breit, Slippery Rock University (programming); Larry Brunt, Rutgers University (digital strategy); Dylan Drollette, Simmons College (photo archives); Troy Farkas, University at Albany (multimedia); Kimberly Hannigan, University of Colorado-Denver (collections); Joseph Kuykendall, James Madison University (development); Kathleen Mackin, University of Notre Dame (programming); Zach McDonald, Syracuse University (development); Nina Phan, University of Florida (development); Rachel Robertson, Lafayette College (licensing & sales); Christopher Shupenko, Fairleigh Dickinson University (library-technical services); Sam Sinykin, Syracuse University (programming); Khephren Spigner, Wesleyan University (programming); Jack Spooner, Xavier University (development); Peyton Tracy, Cooperstown Graduate Program (curatorial); and Katherine Walden, University of Iowa (library research).

Applications for the 2017 Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program will be due on Jan. 31, 2017 and will be available beginning this fall at www.baseballhall.org/education.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Museum observes summer hours of 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. from Memorial Day Weekend until the day before Labor Day. From Labor Day until Memorial Day Weekend, the Museum observes daily regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $23 for adults (13 and over), $15 for seniors (65 and over) and $12 for juniors (ages 7-12) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations. Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. For more information, visit our website at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.