July 29, 2025
by Carol Kelleher
All Hallows Guild is very pleased to be able to continue its tradition of sponsoring summer interns. This year we have three interns in horticulture and one working on turf. Although the students are recruited and hired by our professional staff, the Guild pays their salaries. We do this for two reasons: the hard work and young muscles of the students help with pruning, weeding, trimming, and mowing, easing the burden on our staff, and we like to help train the gardeners of tomorrow with hands-on experience in plant care and identification and garden planning. Our interns have had the chance to visit Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, VA, the Bunny Mellon property, and Cavano’s Perennials in Maryland, and have viewed online seminars—all furthering their education.
Bailey Davila comes to us from Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she attends Spartanburg Community College, studying horticulture. Bailey is in her second year, but had three years toward a Bachelor’s degree in another field before she decided to make a major change. She has many credits that can transfer and will ultimately receive a Master’s degree. This internship is a requirement of her degree program. Bailey plans to enter the field of agronomy, a branch of agriculture that deals with field crop production and soil management. She hopes to teach in this field. Fittingly, she learned about our internship through AgHires website. Bailey is fortunate to have found a host family locally, allowing her to live and work here this summer. Bailey has found the practical work to be her favorite – and working in a public garden, not a commercial enterprise.
Bailey’s summer internship project is redesigning the STA Green Roof – for which she will specify sedums and succulents to provide cohesive weed control.
Isaiah Johnson’s hometown is Washington, DC, and he attends Delaware State University studying Sport Management. This directed him to the turf internship, which is a requirement of his degree and is the final part of his program. He had not done mowing or weeding before, and the preparation of the school fields for sports, placing goals, and getting fields ready is right in his study area. He participated in a field day at the Green Association program at American University and had an opportunity to get on the field at Nationals’ Park to observe the turf management there. Isaiah also has been able to participate in turf management webinars.
Isaiah has enjoyed working on the Cathedral Close and especially working with people who are friendly and helpful.
Owen Loucks is from Northern Virginia and is a rising sophomore at Syracuse University studying Biology. He learned about our internship on Indeed. Owen enjoys working with different people in Horticulture and Grounds and the variety of personalities he encounters daily. The variety and scope of the many types of plants in our different garden areas are favorites – so much so that Owen’s summer project is mapping and naming plants all around our Close.
Owen was quick to respond to a question about how the internship will help in his schoolwork – he now has a much better grasp of what gardening actually entails, and the plant ID learned here as a practical skill will certainly dovetail with his academic work.
Dandelion [Andy] Risch, comes from Friendship Heights, Washington, DC, and rides the Metrobus to the cathedral. Andy is a rising sophomore at Ithaca College with a biochemistry major and an art minor. That seems like the ideal combination for a garden designer! Our internship was recommended to her by a professor and it is a requirement of her study. She loves being outside – even in this very tropical summer – and will do her internship project on insects. She will photograph different insects and log them into a database. She reports her project is going well – hopefully with a lot of friendly pollinators.
Andy says her college campus is very wooded so a combination of a lot of biology courses and experience in the environment gives a comprehensive experience. She participates in a number of micro-labs, and tracks mice and mammals in the woods. She hopes to follow a career in entomology, perhaps finding ways to counteract pests, and is interested in conservation, possibly as a park ranger.
Andy likes working with different people on our staff, being exposed to different viewpoints and methods of working.
Our 2025 summer interns are a varied group with impressive and mature viewpoints and goals, and we hope the experiences we provide will help them toward their goals. We are grateful for the support of our members that allows us to create these opportunities.
