CTEC Students Gain Real-World Experience Through KCSOS Warehouse

Inside the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) Warehouse, home of the Maintenance and Operations Department, high school students are stepping into a working classroom — learning warehouse operations while gaining real-world experience that can launch their future careers.

Through a new internship partnership with Kern High School District’s Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), students in the Logistics and Distribution program are rotating through half-day internships at both the KCSOS central warehouse and the Food and Nutrition Services kitchen warehouse. The students attend morning or afternoon shifts Tuesday through Friday at the warehouse while also completing corresponding coursework through CTEC.

“I’m super excited that we were chosen to start this all, and hopefully it spreads into a lot of other departments,” said Robert Roberson, supervisor of warehouse operations at KCSOS. “I’m hoping that the kids really gain some valuable knowledge and skills that they can use.”

For many of the students, the experience has been eye-opening. Instead of simulations or diagrams, they are handling real inventory, learning digital tracking systems, operating heavy equipment like pallet jacks, and navigating professional expectations.

“It’s nice knowing what the racks look like, what an actual workplace looks like,” said Peyton Slayden, a junior at Golden Valley High School. “I really feel like it sets us up for our future.”

For senior Christopher Hernandez, also of Golden Valley High School, this internship gave him a dose of reality in the workforce, teaching him the importance of time management and showing up. He says the prospect of working in this setting felt daunting at first.

“I thought it was going to be pretty stressful,” he admitted. “I was afraid I was going to get a fast-paced work site. But it’s more like a controlled environment. They help us learn. It’s not like regular school.”

Students work across two distinct environments: the general KCSOS warehouse, which stores everything from furniture to student records, and the Food and Nutrition Services warehouse, where daily deliveries of fresh, frozen, refrigerated, and dry goods require precise coordination.

“When you’re dealing with food, there’s an extra layer,” explained Rafael Juarez, who oversees Food and Nutrition Services logistics. “You’re thinking about shelf life, first-in first-out inventory, refrigeration, daily deliveries, and sustainability. There’s a lot to it — and the students get exposed to all of that.”

The food warehouse, which receives deliveries every day to ensure fresh fruits and vegetables for schools across the county, operates very differently from a typical general warehouse, where large but less frequent shipments are the norm.

Although the program builds strong technical skills, supervisors note that students gain much more than hands-on experience with equipment and inventory systems.

“Number one is life skills,” Roberson said. “They’re learning how to talk to drivers, vendors, supervisors — how to be professional. Those are things you don’t really get in a classroom.”

Safety is also a major focus. Students receive hands-on instruction in proper lifting techniques, pallet stacking, and equipment use, learning to communicate clearly and work as a team in an active warehouse environment.

“Whenever we’re moving something heavy, it’s all about communication,” said Félix Navejas, warehouse delivery worker with Food and Nutrition Services.

For students, the internship provides something many high schoolers lack when entering the workforce: hands-on experience that sets them apart from other students seeking jobs.

“They’ll be able to say they worked three to four months in a warehouse or kitchen warehouse,” Juarez said. “That’s huge. That’s what helps them get their foot in the door.”

The internship program grew out of a larger vision to connect education directly to workforce readiness. According to Ryan Knapp, senior director of Maintenance and Operations at KCSOS, the idea originated with KCSOS’s most important mission — being advocates for children.

“This is another way to support them,” Knapp said. “We want to make sure that we have a nice, safe environment for kids where they’re able to ask questions, and to help stimulate their minds.”

In addition to the workplace experience, hands-on skills, and professional development, students are also discovering whether logistics is — or isn’t — the right path for them. Knapp says no matter what students decide, his team is here to support them and help them grow.

“Whether they become future law enforcement and they’re dealing with the general public, or they go into a corporate management job, whatever it is, we hope that the skills that they learn here are transferable to wherever they go,” Knapp said.

With 46 school districts across Kern County—many with their own warehouse operations—the potential career pathways are broad, spanning both public and private sectors.

KCSOS leaders hope the program will continue to grow and serve as a model for future internships across departments.

“We don’t want interns just for the sake of interns,” Knapp said. “We want meaningful experiences that truly benefit students.”

For students like Slayden, the impact is already clear.

“You’re in school your whole life, and then you come here, and it’s completely different,” he said. “You’re learning, but in a way that feels real.”