Internship

DISTRICT  INTERNSHIP

The BASD Internship Program is intended to provide upperclassmen with opportunities to participate in on-site or off-site experiences related to their career goal. Through this program students will interact with, observe, and assist individuals who are employed in an occupation.

The intent of a BASD internship course is to provide activities that will enable the student to make informed career decisions based on significant knowledge and insights developed during participation.

Objectives:

  • To provide practical experience that enhances the classroom education of the student.
  • To afford opportunities to gain further knowledge of the occupation.
  • To help the students understand and appreciate their academic course work through direct application in a work setting.
  • To develop effective employability skills and attitudes.

Criteria:

  • Open to students who have completed their sophomore year.
  • Students will not be paid for their internship experience.
  • Students must be mentored by a field expert.
  • Students should establish internship goals with their BASD supervisor and mentor.
  • Students will submit a weekly internship log, weekly reflection, portfolio at the conclusion of the course, and a final reflection paper.
  • Students spend a minimum of 9 weeks or 60 hours participating in the internship experience.
  • A grade of Pass/Fail will be awarded for the Career Internship Experience and .5 credit of internship completion will be noted on the transcript. Class rank and GPA will not be affected by the internship.

INTERN ACTIVITY

The job-specific activities in which a student may participate or observe will be determined by the participating mentors in cooperation with the BASD supervisor, student, parents, and school. No student may participate in activities which would be considered unusually dangerous or inappropriate for his/her age level.

The intern will submit an internship log to his/her supervisor every week during the semester. Dates will be delineated by the supervisors. Each log submission will include a listing of the activities.

The intern will submit an internship weekly reflection to the supervisor each week. These commentaries require the student’s reaction to and reflection upon given internship incidents or activities. The logs will be cumulative throughout the internship program.

Interns are required to attend regularly scheduled weekly meetings with the site mentor to discuss administrative issues, reflect on events, and receive feedback on performance.  These meetings will provide significant opportunities for the mentor principal to enhance the intern’s learning on both practical and theoretical aspects of school leadership.

A final reflection paper will be submitted to the Intern Supervisor along with a professional portfolio.  In this paper, the student will form generalizations about the internship experience based on the semester’s cumulative experiences.  The student reflects on the following questions:

  1. How does your view of your career field differ at the end of the internship compared to your view at the beginning of the experience?
  2. How have your career goals changed, if at all, as a result of this experience?
  3. What are your areas of greatest strength in this career path?
  4. What specific knowledge and skills that you were exposed to during the internship need to be further developed?
  5. What aspects of internship experience did you find the most surprising, challenging, or frustrating?

PORTFOLIO GUIDELINES

Each student will create a portfolio compiling the work accomplished during the internship experience.  The portfolio will be organized in accordance with the Career Readiness Standards. The portfolio will be submitted at the conclusion of the internship experience and reviewed by the supervisor.

The professional portfolio consists of four major sections:

  1. Section 1 of the portfolio includes an updated resume and a one paragraph biographical sketch.  In addition, this section includes a self-analysis of strengths and weaknesses along with internship specific goals.
  2. Section 2 of the portfolio includes a copy of the weekly activity logs and reflection sheets.
  3. Section 3 includes separate tabbed headings for each standard. This section includes a summary of the work accomplished in each of the standards and presents specific work products designed to demonstrate competency in the student’s personalized goals.  The work product may include written material, audio or videotape, copies of photos and/or computer-based material.
  4. Section 4 includes a final reflection on the internship.  This reflection requires the intern to reflect on his/her learning by relating the internship experience to the personalized goals established at the outset of the program.

The internship will require a minimum of 9 weeks or 60 hours of work experience. The quality of the experience is judged not only by the time component but includes the quality of work product presented in the professional portfolio and the nature and diversity of the experiences represented in the weekly logs.

INTERNSHIP LOG

Date

 Activity (Include category and descriptor) Identify Standard Related to Activity Product Time

 

Career Readiness Standards
13.1.11 Career Awareness and Preparation

  1. Relate careers to individual interests, abilities, and aptitudes.
  2. Analyze career options based on personal interests, abilities, aptitudes, achievements, and goals.
  3. Analyze how the changing roles of individuals in the workplace relate to new opportunities within career choices.
  4. Evaluate school-based opportunities for career awareness and preparation.
  5. Justify the selection of a career.
  6. Analyze the relationship between career choices and career preparation opportunities.
  7. Assess the implementation of the individualized career plan through the ongoing development of the career portfolio.
  8. Review personal high school plan against current personal career goals and select postsecondary opportunities based upon personal career interests.
13.2.11 Career Acquisition

  1. Apply effective speaking and listening skills used in a job interview.
  2. Apply research skills in searching for a job.
  3. Develop and assemble, for career portfolio placement, career acquisition documents.
  4. Analyze, revise, and apply an individualized career portfolio to chosen career path.
  5. Demonstrate, in the career acquisition process, the application of essential workplace skills/knowledge.
13.3.11 Career Retention and Advancement

  1. Evaluate personal attitudes and work habits that support career retention and advancement.
  2. Evaluate team member roles to describe and illustrate active listening techniques.
  3. Evaluate conflict resolution skills as they relate to the workplace.
  4. Develop a personal budget based on career choice.
  5. Evaluate time management strategies and their application to both personal and work situations.
  6. Evaluate strategies for career retention and advancement in response to the changing global workplace.
  7. Evaluate the impact of lifelong learning on career retention and advancement.
13.4.11 Entrepreneurship

  1. Analyze entrepreneurship as it relates to personal career goals and corporate opportunities.
  2. Analyze entrepreneurship as it relates to personal character traits.
  3. Develop a business plan for an entrepreneurial concept of personal interest and identify available resources.