BRHS grad serving as Intern for Sen. Murkowski

BRHS 2017 graduate James Flemings is a First Session Summer Intern for Senator Lisa Murkowski. Flemings gave a commencement speech at his graduation, shown above. Photo by Greg Lincoln

Recent Bethel Regional High School graduate James Flemings has been chosen as one of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s first session summer interns.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski welcomed her first wave of summer interns – recent high school graduates – to Washington, D.C. last Friday, June 9th. For the next four weeks, these interns will be assisting in her office by shadowing Murkowski throughout the day, helping with administrative and clerical tasks, and assisting staff with research projects. She also welcomed three college interns and a legal intern who will be working in the office for the duration of the summer.

“I love welcoming such eager faces to my office every summer. These bright young Alaskans are full of energy, ideas, and enthusiasm and are ready to get a behind-the-scenes look into how the U.S. Senate operates,” said Murkowski. “To this day, I cherish my experience as an intern for Ted Stevens, and I hope this summer’s interns ultimately feel the same way.”

Senator Murkowski’s summer intern program for recent high school graduates contains two, month-long sessions. The first session will be in D.C. through June 30 with the second session working in D.C. from July 10 through August 4.

Joining Flemings in the first group of recent high school graduate summer interns are:

·Claire Faulkner – Anchorage – West Anchorage High School

·Fiona Kelty – Anchorage – Service High School

·Jaden Frazier – Anchorage – South Anchorage High School

·Tristan Douville – Craig – Craig High School

·Tasha Elizarde – Juneau – Juneau-Douglas High School

·Kinani Halvorsen – Ketchikan – Ketchikan High School

·Mary (Katie) Crowley – Palmer – Palmer High School

·Jackson Blackwell – Soldotna – Soldotna High School

·Taylor Holman – Unalaska – Unalaska High School

Murkowski’s college interns, Aimee Bushnell of Wasilla and Fatos Redzepi of Anchorage, will be supervising and counseling the summer interns in partnership with members of Murkowski’s staff. Bushnell is a double major at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Business Administration and Spanish, with the intent to become a U.S. diplomat in the future. Redzepi is attending the University of Alaska Anchorage as a Political Science major, in hopes of soon after going to law school. Caroline Humphreys, from Soldotna and currently attending the University of Notre Dame, is double majoring in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies. Humphreys will also be working in the office as a college intern and will be assisting professional and legislative staff with research, learning the Senate process, and providing Capitol tours for visiting constituents.

Weili (Will) Weng, is joining the office as a legal intern. Will just completed his first year at William and Mary Law School, is a graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.