From SPARC Session to Summer Strategy

Jim Patterson has seen a lot of summers. As Director of the Kutler Center and Summer Programs at Harvard-Westlake School, he is an experienced, award-winning leader in the auxiliary programs world. So what does someone with his track record get out of a conference session? As it turns out, a brand-new program.

At the 2025 SPARC National Conference, Jim sat in on a session led by Julie Gomez, Director of Auxiliary Programs at Lake Highland Preparatory School. Her topic was simple and practical: hiring summer social media interns. Jim took the idea home, adapted it for Harvard-Westlake, and turned it into one of his program's successes. 

This is the story of that idea, and of the professional community that made it possible to share.

The Problem: A Marketing Capacity Gap

Today's summer program parents want to see their child's experience, and they want to see it daily. Photos, videos, and quick updates have become part of what families expect when they enroll. Meeting that demand is hard for most auxiliary departments. Teams are small, and summer runs on a different calendar than the rest of the school. By the time camp is in full swing, many of the school's regular staff are on break.

School communications offices can help, but their focus is usually the school's overall mission, not the specific marketing needs of a summer program. A comms team might be able to offer two or three days of photography for an eight-week program. That's a start, but it can't capture the full story of a summer.

Julie's Solution: Paid College Interns

Julie's answer to the capacity gap was to hire paid college interns whose job is to create social media content every day of the summer. Rather than asking an already stretched team to do more, she added people dedicated to capturing the experience.

At Lake Highland Prep, the program grew over three years:

• Year 1: One to two paid interns to test the idea.
• Year 2: A part-time administrator with marketing duties, hired to manage the intern team.
• Year 3: A refined team of five interns with specialized skills, including dedicated photographers and video editors, so the content could be more intentional.

Instagram is Lake Highland’s primary channel for reaching parents, with posts flowing automatically to Facebook. Julie also uses the parent portal through MyCamp App, to upload weekly photo albums organized by camp so families can download their favorites.

Julie found that calling the role an “internship” rather than a job attracts candidates who want real, resume-building experience, while justifying a counselor-level pay rate. This help to set healthy expectations on both sides: the interns are there to learn, which takes the pressure off needing perfection from day one. Giving interns ownership of the brand also builds a strong sense of responsibility.

Jim's Adaptation at Harvard-Westlake

Jim didn't copy Julie's model line for line, rather, he took the core idea and shaped it to fit Harvard-Westlake. He hired three college marketing majors and tasked them with building a comprehensive content map for the summer. He also leaned hard into the "internship" part of the role: the interns learned from Harvard-Westlake's alumni network (including a vice president at CBS), and had full access to professional AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.

The interns' work not only promoted the programs eternally, they built credibility for summer marketing inside the school as well.

Consider a Pilot at Your School

Julie and Jim both offered practical advice for programs considering their own social media interns:

1. Define your goals: Be clear about what the role is for and write a detailed job description before you hire.

2. Start small: One or two interns is enough to begin–they may even come from your existing summer staff.

3. Frame it as an internship: Build in real learning and you'll attract stronger candidates who are invested in growing.

4. Expect to iterate: The first year won't be perfect–learn from it and refine the process.

5. Use early wins to grow: A small, successful pilot builds the internal credibility you need to make the case for a dedicated marketing admin or outside expertise.

SPARC: A Community Built on Sharing

The social media intern program is a great idea. But the bigger story may be how the idea traveled. 

Julie didn't guard her approach as a trade secret. Instead, she stood up at a national conference and walked colleagues through exactly what she'd built, what changed each year, and what she learned along the way. Jim, who could easily have assumed he'd seen it all, walked in open to learning something new, and he did.

This exchange captures what makes SPARC different: its members are unusually generous with what works, sharing actionable strategies rather than keeping them close. No matter how long you've been in the field, there is always another colleague who has solved a problem you're still wrestling with.

That matters because auxiliary leaders often work as solo operators inside their schools. There is often no one down the hall who understands the unique pressures and challenges of this work. SPARC provides that network of peers who get it and who are there to fill that gap.

Your Next Great Idea Is In The Room

One conference session. One generous presenter. One experienced leader willing to keep learning. The result is a new program, a stronger summer story for its families, and a model other schools can continue to borrow.

That's the SPARC effect. 

Whether you're in your first summer or your twentieth, the next idea that changes your program might be one session away. Join us at the next SPARC event and bring your best ideas to share.

Members can access Julie's on SPARC Connect.