Former MHUSD Students Build Experience - and Their Community

For two former Morgan Hill Unified School District students, coming back to MHUSD this summer looked a little different than returning for a school visit.

College students Andrew Villa and Amber Murawsky spent their summer working alongside MHUSD’s Bond and Construction team, gaining hands-on experience while helping oversee projects taking place across the District. Along the way, they got an inside look at the work—and the wide range of careers—it takes to keep school facilities improving and projects moving forward.

Villa, a graduate of Ann Sobrato High School who also attended Paradise Valley and Britton Middle School, is entering his third year at Chico State, where he is studying Construction Management. He discovered the major while attending a college orientation and was drawn to the combination of hands-on work, management and strong career opportunities.

His MHUSD internship put much of what he has been learning in college into practice. Throughout the summer, Villa checked in on construction sites, served as a point of contact for contractors, supported the District’s Bond Director and helped manage project plans and financial documentation using industry platforms such as Procore and SkySight. He also experienced the problem-solving that happens behind the scenes when multiple contractors are working simultaneously and one delay can impact an entire project schedule.  

“This experience gave me a foundation for what to expect when I go out into the field,” Villa said. “I learned how important it is to communicate with contractors, coordinate different companies on a site and keep everything moving so the project finishes on time.”

For Murawsky, the internship offered a different perspective.

A former Barrett Elementary and Paradise Valley student, Murawsky is entering her second year at the University of Oregon, where she is majoring in Business. Having grown up around family members who work in construction, she saw the internship as an opportunity to explore the industry from a business and management standpoint.

Murawsky spent time overseeing work at Sobrato High School, coordinating with movers and subcontractors and working in the District office. She also learned to use Procore and SkySight, systems she had never worked with before.

“Whether or not I choose to go into construction, I learned a lot about managing projects, adapting as needs change and working with different groups of people,” Murawsky said. “Everyone was willing to help me learn along the way.”  

Villa and Murawsky got the opportunity to step in to help keep projects moving during one of the Bond and Construction Department’s busiest periods this summer. For MHUSD, internships like these are about more than summer help. They are an opportunity for former students to return to the District, build professional skills and see their schools from an entirely new perspective. The two interns also helped archive decades of building plans stored in the District warehouse, identifying which are already in the digital system and which still need to be added for future reference.

School districts rely on professionals across many fields, from education and counseling to construction, business, technology, finance, communications and the skilled trades. Andrew and Amber’s experience is a great example of how the paths MHUSD students begin in our schools can lead in many directions, and sometimes, their careers bring them right back home.