Alumni take students beyond the classroom

The Sands Family YMCA has hosted 10 interns during the last academic year.

Maybe it was Professor Kelli Prior’s teaching style that got Jason Gottfried’s attention. Or her expectations. Or both.

“She changed my outlook on life, and she was not easy on me,” Jason, a 2004 humanities graduate, said with a laugh. After biology with Professor Prior, education took on a new urgency. He started re-taking classes at FLCC that he had previously taken elsewhere to raise his grades.

Jason, executive director of the Sands Family YMCA in Canandaigua, and his colleague, Kate Eberts ’93, associate executive director, are giving back to the College by offering internships to current students.

Taking a career for a test drive is one of the best ways for students to explore their interests and test their abilities. The College started tracking the number of students who participated in an applied learning experience before the pandemic. A total of 448 students had at least one experience during the 2018–19 academic year. By 2024–25, the number had risen to 609.

Building a bench

Jason Gottfried '04, executive director of the Sands Family YMCA in Canandaigua, and Kate Eberts '93, associate executive director, have welcomed 10 FLCC interns over the last year. Jason worked part-time at the former Southeast Family YMCA in Pittsford while attending FLCC. His roles included camp counselor, tutor, and swim instructor.

“I did literally everything you could possibly do in the Y as a part-time employee,” he said. Full-time roles followed, and Jason joined the Canandaigua YMCA in 2021.

Two years later, the Y moved from its downtown location to the new 75,000-square-foot facility on North Street.

Now, he and his management team are building a career ladder similar to the one he ascended.

“As it did in so many places, COVID really crushed our workforce. We need to build our own benches,” he said.

The Sands Family branch employs about 25 full-timers and 260 part-timers. Internships could lead to part-time work and, potentially, full-time positions throughout the YMCA of Greater Rochester’s association.

Jason began a conversation with FLCC President Robert Nye, who serves on the Sands Family YMCA Board of Directors. The Y’s diverse programming provides opportunities for students to earn course credit in several programs, including human services, business administration, and sports management. As with internships at most nonprofits, these are unpaid, though a SUNY grant provides gas cards and a $695 stipend to qualifying students.

This article is the cover story in the spring Laker magazine. Read the Laker online. Jason met with an internship coordinator and visited a human services class about a year ago. By fall, the Y was ready to launch. Kate, who oversees the program, starts with a screening interview to make sure the Y can provide an experience that meets a student’s needs.

“I have a development plan for each intern, and I meet with them once a month so that we’re all on the same page. We talk about operational development, their goals, challenges that they’re running into, and successes,” she explained.

Kate and Jason agree that mentorship is critical for any internship program.

“We appreciate the openness and the outside-of-the-box thinking of the College. I love that we’re able to put our flavor into it, too, and not just give them the hours and say, ‘See you later.’ We’re connecting them to our organization and trying to help them be better people.”

Kate hopes the interns also build a larger personal and professional network.

“At FLCC, I created such great relationships with the teachers and my friends. I gained great connections throughout that time, and now I want to give back to the FLCC community.”

Making it all fit

Geisha Aman of Penn Yan assisted in the Y’s dedicated space for science, art, and technology projects. She is also a mother of two and works as the youth employment and training counselor for Yates County Workforce Development.

“I work in small intervals for two to three days a week, totaling about six hours a week,” she said. “The Y complements my current position because my work there helps youth identify talents that can translate to career interests. “It also lets me interact with youth in a more relaxed environment than my office. I get insight into what youth like, and this helps me tailor services for youth in Yates County.”

Her classmate, Carla Holtz of Shortsville, specialized in the Active Older Adults (AOA) program, prepping and teaching craft classes and assisting with the weekly AOA newsletter at the branch.

“It has enhanced my skills in communicating effectively with the aging population and to listen empathetically when they express concerns,” she said.

Like Geisha, Carla is a non-traditional student. “I enrolled later in life because it has been my long-term goal to go back to school,” she said. “It brings me joy and a sense of accomplishment when I am able to help another individual through a crisis, to make a connection or to simply be there so they don’t feel alone.”

Carla Holtz of Shortsville, wearing blue YMCA shirt, plays a game with members the Active Older Adults group.