Upper School Internships

Sean, Alex and Nils learn boat building.		Will and his teacher Creek, study how to make fishing nets.

Participating in an internship is a central aspect of the high school program which supports the development of academic, intellectual, and social skills. Students begin their internship experience by engaging in a process of Interest Exploration in which they brainstorm lists of their interests and complete and present projects on the theme “Who Am I?” They then meet with their teacher to begin setting up interviews with adults working in professions related to their interests. Students prepare notes or scripts prior to making telephone calls to set up interview appointments, and write lists of interview questions. After conducting a minimum of three interviews, students are required to write detailed accounts of what they learned during each interview and to compose thank you notes describing what they had learned.

Students then conduct Shadow Days and begin working and learning through an internship of their choice. Writing weekly reflections in a journal and designing and completing a project directly related to the internship are two major academic components of the internship experience. The process of determining one’s interests and interacting with professionals in community businesses and organizations provides invaluable learning experiences for our ninth to twelfth graders.

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