Student Spotlight: Lily Thorsen

This article is the latest in a series produced in association with Rhinelander Partners in Education.

With the new school year now well underway, the School District of Rhinelander has sent another group of young apprentices into the community. Each year, the school connects students in the Youth Apprenticeship (YA) Program with local businesses.

The YA Program offers students an opportunity to integrate and process their experience in the workforce with translatable skills for their future employability. Rhinelander Partners in Education (PIE) carefully matches each student to a position within their field of interest and exploration. 

The students work closely with RHS guidance counselor Lexi Allen and when partnered with a business they also work directly with a local business mentor. 

The first youth apprentice to be featured this school year is Lily Thorsen, a senior in the Health Science/Nurse Assistant Pathway in the YA program.

An aspiring nurse, Lily has taken a position as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at Rennes Health & Rehab Center in Rhinelander. Thorsen has enjoyed a full and balanced experience in high school, participating in varsity swimming all four years and contributing to the team’s state championship in 2023.

She plans to study nursing while continuing her swimming career at UW-Green Bay.

Thorsen shared how her job at Rennes has helped her gain a new perspective. 

The most eye-opening experience was seeing, “…a resident who was a stand out member of the community [who] completed amazing things during his lifetime die without any family or friends with him; he had never had a family, so his caretakers were the only one’s with him at the end of his life. It makes you think about success from a new perspective,” she said.

The YA program helps broaden students’ perspectives by applying what they’ve learned in their educational careers to real life. 

Thorsen explained what she has learned about herself through this experience.

“I have learned lots about separating work from the other parts of my life,” she said. “It isn’t uncommon to have a rough shift at the nursing home whether it is lack of staffing or having a day where you really have to watch a resident struggle. I tend to let these things linger past the end of my shift, and noticing that and practicing not letting these things shape my day after my shift ends has been an ongoing process.”

Thorsen said the real-world experience working at Renness has “solidified her plan of going into nursing. 

The hands-on experience with patient care has reinforced the idea that serving others in that way makes me feel fulfilled, she said.

This series of articles is sponsored by Rhinelander Partners in Education, which works closely with businesses in the community to continue to find ways to help immerse students into the workforce with the guidance of mentors in the local community. 

Throughout the school year we will feature the stories of other local youth apprentices who are gaining lifelong skills with the support of the community.