May 25, 2023 | Graduating Valley High School senior Alecsis Flores-Wilson says it all started with HGTV (Home and Garden Television). Watching the home improvement channel and seeing members of her family work in related trades inspired her interest in construction and interior design from a young age.
While still young — she’s graduating from Valley early at age 16 — Flores-Wilson is already taking big steps to pursue her future career. Since February, she’s been learning on the job as an intern for the West Des Moines Community Schools (WDMCS) Operations Department. With the support of Operations Director Nick Anderson, construction manager J.R. Angle, and secondary curriculum director Shane Scott, Flores-Wilson was able to experience several different aspects of construction and interior design through work with WDMCS, Shive-Hattery, Inc. Architecture and Engineering, and Core Construction.
Owning her own construction management business is Flores-Wilson’s dream job, but she also has a bigger dream: to be a role model for her peers and those who come after her. She has already experienced sexism and doubt in the field, but her experiences as an intern have developed her ability to keep moving forward when others are skeptical of her age, gender, and ability.
“(The Operations Department) has given me so much confidence and really boosted who I am as a person, and they’ve all, equally, made me so much stronger,” Flores-Wilson said. She added “I’ve always wanted to be that trailblazer … (Every)time that I go onto a job site, I’m always like, ‘I deserve to be here just as much as anybody else does and nobody can stop me.’”
That conviction and drive stood out to Anderson, Angle, and Scott from the first time they met and interviewed Flores-Wilson. All three described her as confident, capable, and self-motivated (and said they felt like proud dads).
“You couldn’t ask for anything more from someone who’s having a lot of first experiences,” Scott said. “She never shies away from a challenge or shies away from an opportunity to help herself grow and learn more about her own future and what her passions and interests are.”
Learn more about Alecsis’ goal to break through the glass ceiling while building her future:
