Meet Our Summer Interns!
This summer, eight high school students from our Summit family are serving as interns, giving them the opportunity to get more involved at Summit. From behind-the-scenes tech work to social media creation, these students were dedicated to helping Summit’s community grow and thrive.
Meet Brooke
Brooke has been a part of Summit’s community for quite some time. Her parents helped launch the Waterford campus which she called home up until the merge of Summit’s Waterford and Herndon campuses, in which Brooke and her family became connected with the larger church community.
Thanks to Summit Students, Brooke was able to cultivate valuable friendships and hear the perspectives of her peers in a safe and uplifting setting. The connections Brooke has formed with the Student leaders have stuck with her as well. Caroline Mitchell, the girls’ Student leader, is someone that has made Brooke feel incredibly welcomed and loved throughout her spiritual journey. “Caroline is a constant I can always go to and can talk to about anything,” Brooke said. Additionally, former Student Minister Johnny Outing was an important role model to Brooke and her peers alike. “Johnny poured a ton into me and has so much wisdom that he shared with us [during his time as the Student Minister at Summit],” Brooke shared.
After years of volunteering at Summit in ways like running the Student snack bar or stepping in to do childcare at events, Brooke was offered an internship for the summer to become more directly involved with the inner workings of the church. She is working under John Parker, the Local and Global Outreach Pastor, and Caroline Mitchell, the Local and Global Ministry Coordinator. Brooke is working alongside Caroline to plan different events for the Summit, such as this month’s School Supply Drive. Brooke has a passion for both ministry and event planning, and her internship here at Summit has given her the opportunity to pursue these passions simultaneously.
Meet Aschalew
Aschalew grew up in a family rooted in their faith, which inspired his curiosity about religion. As the son of our Local and Global Outreach Pastor, John Parker, Aschalew has belonged to the Summit community since his early years. He began attending Summit Students in middle school, and has grown close with his peers who also hope to strengthen their relationships with God. “My friends at Students have become like a family to me … they’ve really made it a place where I can be vulnerable,” Aschalew said.
Aschalew’s thankfulness towards the Summit community and love for God is what drove him to volunteer. “I wanted to get more involved so I served in the children’s ministry and got closer with the leaders and my Student Connect group,” Aschalew said.
His predilection towards technology is what made Aschalew perfect for an internship under Joel LeGros, our Technical Director. With Joel, Aschalew has learned to change, fix and design the lights, as well as manage the slideshow during services.
Meet Aria
Aria has belonged to Summit Church since her childhood, and was able to grow deeper in her faith in high school. “During my freshman and sophomore year I was dealing with anxiety, and that kind of challenged me to dive deeper into my faith,” Aria said. Her early involvement here at Summit looked like coming in before service to set up chairs and hand out papers.
She has a passion for leading and inspiring students. Aria is working under Jeremy King, our Student Minister. “I started out as a 6th grade girls leader and I think [the internship] will give me a better chance to get more experience as a leader,” Aria said.
Meet Jacob
Jacob grew up in a Christian household and has called Summit home for quite some time. His faith blossomed once he entered middle school, and shortly afterwards he began volunteering with the worship crew at Summit. “My faith started becoming my own in 7th grade after a Christian conference I went to,” Jacob said. “Then it was really a gradual transformation from me leaving my parents’ faith to exploring my own.” After receiving prayer and reflecting, Jacob felt a calling to join a student leadership team. “When I started volunteering [at Summit] is when the Lord really started working in me. Liv Thomson, our worship leader at the time, pushed me to get more involved with student worship and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Jacob’s time at Students has strengthened both his relationship with God and his peers. “My friends and I here [at Summit] have grown so much closer,” Jacob said. “The annual High School Retreat really helps transform our friendship from being just friends to becoming brothers and sisters in Christ.” Jacob has a passion for leading others to Christ and sharing God's Word with those around him. “I’ve made it my mission to shepherd our group to be able to direct them to Jesus,” Jacob said.
During his internship, Jacob is working alongside Andy Simonds, Summit’s Lead Pastor, and Heitor Lima, the Music Director at the Orlando campus. Jacob has become a vital part of Summit’s worship team. He plays the drums for our Sunday services and can be found playing the guitar and keyboard during Student worship. As Jacob has grown in his faith, he’s discovered an essential part of his spiritual journey to be surrendering all that he does to God. This is evident in his time spent volunteering, as he pours his heart and soul into worship.
Meet Ruby
Ruby and her family have been attending Summit for as long as she can remember. Summit Orlando is the campus she began calling home after the merger of Summit’s Waterford and Orlando locations. “I was really grateful for the merge because I found a lot more community with the girls there,” Ruby said. Ruby has grown close with the other students at Summit through attending Students on Sundays and other Student events.
She started out as a volunteer for our media team, creating content for the Summit Students social media accounts. “I really like [managing the social media accounts] because I can be creative and it’s fun. I feel like we need more fun stuff because it makes people want to come [to church],” Ruby said. Throughout this summer internship, Ruby will continue to create content for our church community, inspiring people in a fun and welcoming way.
Meet AJ
AJ has been a part of Summit all her life. She grew up in a family that always made their faith a priority, which encouraged her to explore her own faith. “My faith kind of became my own in middle school, when I started taking initiative for myself … I continued to grow my faith through church and Young Life and different Bible studies I was part of,” AJ said.
AJ was baptized last year at Summit, which marked a transformative part of her spiritual journey. “I felt like [getting baptized] was something God was calling me to do,” AJ said.
After years of leading her own bible studies, AJ became a Student Connect group leader at Summit this year. She serves in Base Camp on Sundays and has become even more involved through her internship this summer. AJ has been working with Summit Lake Mary Student Minister David Merida. “I love youth ministry and kids in general,” AJ said. “It’s really cool to see all the planning that goes into everything.”
AJ has been able to sit in on some meetings at Summit and learn more about how we function as a community. “It’s awesome to see behind the scenes of the church and learn how hard they are trying to be a good Christian workplace and trying to grow themselves so that they can help our church grow as well,” she said. She’s been given the opportunity to hear from several of our staff members as well as other partners of Summit. AJ understands the value of ministry and how passionate our community is to share the Word and love of Jesus.
“This summer has been really busy, but also so fascinating and eye opening,” AJ said. “I have just grown so much and I've loved every second of it.”
Meet Hailey
Hailey has been attending the Summit Lake Mary Campus since she was in elementary school. She began serving as a volunteer in Base Camp (our kids’ ministry) with her family in second grade and became more and more involved as she grew up here at Summit. She now serves as a 6th grade girls Connect group leader.
Hailey is working with Executive Administrator Ashlyn Murphy and Lake Mary Student Minister David Merida this summer to learn more about how the Lake Mary Students program is run. “I have learned so much about the behind the scenes of how Summit runs and how the staff works together to make things happen,” she said.
Hailey is so grateful to call Summit home and become more involved with the work our church is doing. “Summit has been such a big part of my life and journey with Christ,” Hailey said.
Written by Media Volunteer, Emily Lopez
Emily is a high school student herself and will be starting her senior year this fall. She has been part of the Summit family for as long as she can remember, and Summit has played an integral role in her life. This year, she became more involved with Summit Students and is excited to combine two of her biggest passions—writing and her church—to help tell the stories of what God is doing at Summit.