Internships

 

Meaningful, Real Learning Experiences

 

Every Bennett Day student participates in at least one major internship during their time here. Internships provide every learner with an experience that is personally fulfilling and gives them insight into their learning and work pathway going forward. Bennett Day learners, through their work as interns, will provide valuable contributions to business, nonprofits, and government agencies throughout the city.

Values

Authentic Experience

Reflection and Wayfinding

Community Building

Impact

Key Activities

Exploration Period

Trimester-Long Internships

Internship Seminar

Reflection Writing/”Stand Ups”

Final Impact Presentations

Key Partnerships

Local Businesses

Non-Profits/Government Agencies

Advisors

Bennett Day Internship Coordinator

 

How Does it Work?

 

Phase One: Exploration/Resume Building
Phase one typically happens in the trimester prior to the internship. Bennett Day learners reflect on their interests with advisor, peer, and family input. Learners should specifically reflect on, and have conversations about, something that the student would like to change about the world. This conversation should culminate with the learner identifying 1-3 areas of interest that they’d like to pursue.

Once the areas of interest are identified, Bennett Day learners do extensive research on the careers that relate to their interests. They should keep a journal that will be submitted to the internship coordinator. Focusing questions should include:

  • What types of organizations hire those people?
  • What current events impact that field?
  • What are people in this field concerned about?

At the conclusion of the research, the learner should identify at least five different sites that they would like to approach. These will be submitted via a form turned into the internship coordinator. At this point, learners will work with the internship coordinator to develop their cover letter and strategies for contacting the potential internship site.

Phase Two: Contacting Sites
After the learner submits their list of sites, the internship coordinator will approve all or some of these choices. The internship coordinator has discretion to approve or not approve sites; in order to avoid multiple students from contacting the same site, the internship coordinator may not approve every learner’s first choice.

Once the learner’s choice is approved, they will schedule a shadow day to get a feel for a typical day. Multiple shadow days are encouraged. After shadow days, learners will coordinate an interview between the internship coordinator, site mentor/contact, and learner.

Phase Three: Project Development
A contract is agreed upon between the student and a mentor to determine what the student will be doing. The contract is developed (not immediately) by allowing the mentor to list some items a student could do and the student develops a list of items they would like to do. The agreed upon internship must have the following:

  • Project must be associated with student’s interests in order to develop new skills.
  • The project needs to be real and be of benefit to the company.
  • The student needs to have access to resources and experiences necessary to complete project.
  • The project must be relevant, challenging, and provide enough time to complete.
  • The project must culminate with a presentation of some kind in which the learner makes recommendations to the site.
Phase Four: Internship
During the internship trimester, students will participate in a daily internship seminar with the Bennett Day School internship coordinator. This seminar will focus on not only processing the day-to-day challenges of each student’s internship, but also on the relevant skills necessary in the world of work outside Bennett Day. This seminar will meet at least three mornings per week. During this seminar, every students will participate in at least one Stand Up per week.

Stand Ups

Students will participate in weekly “stand-ups,” in which they stand in front of the class and make three statements:

  • What did I do last week that helps the team/business/nonprofit meet the goal? What did I do to meet my goal?
  • What will I do this week to help the team meet the goal? What will I do to meet my goal?
  • Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the team from meeting the goal?

Students are expected to attend both their internship and seminar every day. Students, during the internship trimester, will also spend time preparing their impact presentations. Every three weeks, students will write a short (2-3 page) reflection on their work as well as their plan for their impact presentations.

Phase Five: Impact Presentations
Impact presentations take two forms:

  1. The in-person report to the business.
  2. The written research paper.

By the conclusion of the internship, students will prepare a report, complete with citations, on the business/non-profit for whom they have been working. The impact presentations should first identify how the student’s thinking has been changed through participation in the internship. The second part of the impact presentation involves an analysis of some challenge facing the business that the student has researched. The student should give a history of the challenge, explain any relevant research that might contribute to a possible solution, and propose a solution to the problem that the student feels might address the challenge faced by the business. This will be presented to a panel who will assess the report and either (a) accept it as satisfactory for completion of the internship, or (b) ask for revisions before credit is given.

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