The Junior Practicum experience for current juniors at DC is intended to build off of the Sophomore Externship experience. If you are new junior at DC, welcome! I am excited to work with you. At DC, we require our 11th graders to complete a Junior Practicum, which is 40 required internship hours at a company/business or organization outside of DC. Click here to read a blog post of mine titled, “The Value of a High School Internship”. Click here to read a post titled “Gen Z X Factors”. I hope these two posts help you understand why I think high school internship experiences are not only helpful, but needed experiences that every Upper School student at DC should have.
What to know when planning for Junior Practicum:
- You have from the day after your sophomore year ends through May 31st of your junior year to complete the required 40 hours.
- These hours can be completed at any time beyond the classes you are scheduled to take at DC. You can complete Junior Practicum hours during the summer, PRT time, days off of school or one or both SAIL weeks (November or April).
- After completing your Sophomore Externship experience; who did you get to know, talk to and learn from that could be a potential supervisor for your Junior Practicum? You could intern at the same company or organization if you are building on and/or learning something new with a different supervisor.
- Continue to talk with your parents, friends and others that can help you know of someone that would be good for you to intern for if you are looking for a different experience than what you did for your Sophomore Externship. I think that this process of asking questions, initiating communication with potential supervisors and networking is very important to go through. 90% or more internships are established through personal connections.
- Feel free to go back to your YouScience aptitude/interest assessment results for additional recommendations of what careers may be a good fit for you.
- If you have asked a couple of professionals whether you can complete your Junior Practicum with them and they have said no, first ask them if they know of anyone else that would be good to ask. I am also happy to help connect you with someone that may be willing to have you intern with them.
What to do when a potential supervisor is interested or has said that you can complete your Sophomore Externship with them.
- If a potential supervisor would like to know more about the Junior Practicum internship program, they can view the Junior Practicum Guidelines and Supervisor Information forms.
- Ask your potential supervisor at what time, before May 31st, would be a better time for you to intern with them. It would good to consider interning with them at the most appropriate time during the year in which they may have more for you to observe or do.
- Go to the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form” that has been shared with you and is also in your SCOIR Drive, complete your information and then your supervisor’s information. E-mail me (tcreeden@dccs.org) your supervisor’s name, email and company name. Agree to and submit the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Contract” form (submitting it is you agreeing to the terms).
- Begin your Junior Practicum!
What is required for you to complete during and after you complete your 20 required Sophomore Externship hours?
- Once you and your supervisor have agreed to the ’23-’24 Junior Practicum Contract”, log your completed hours in the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you. Complete the questions for each day(s) hours as well (tasks completed and “one thing you learned”).
- Complete a project assigned to you by your supervisor.
- Once your 40 hours are logged, you must complete the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Student Evaluation Form”. The link to this form is in the “’23-’24 Junior Practicum Hourly Log Form”.
Below are some FAQ’s regarding the Junior Practicum that you may have:
Can I complete my intern hours with more than one supervisor?
Yes. You must complete at least 10 hours with one supervisor. For juniors, this means you may have up to four different supervisors to complete the 40 hours required.
Can I complete my intern hours with a faculty or staff member at DC?
No. You must complete your Junior Practicum hours with a supervisor outside of DC. If you are interested in teaching/education, you may intern with a teacher at the Lower School.
What if I don’t know what profession/career I would like to intern for at all?
If you have completed the Sophomore Externship experience, you should hopefully be able to draw from that experience and know if you are more excited about the career field you interned for or maybe you are less excited about it (which is totally fine as well!). If you are looking to complete your Junior Practicum in a different career field, please go back to your Career Matches in your YouScience assessment results and review what careers that may be a good fit for you. If you are a new junior at DC, please take the YouScience assessment in SCOIR. Ask me how to get started and I would be happy to help you. I am also more than happy to meet with you individually to review your YouScience assessment results with you and/or talk through what career fields you may be interested in by asking you some questions.
Can I complete my Junior Practicum hours during my PRT period(s)?
Yes, if you have a PRT 1st or 4th period and would like to complete any of your Junior Practicum hours during this time, you can come into school late or leave early as long as I am aware that you are completing your hours during your PRT. I need to be the one to sign off and let the main office know where you are.
What if I don’t complete all of my Junior Practicum intern hours before May 31st of my junior year?
It is strongly recommended that you complete your 40 required hours before May 31st of your junior year because it’s important that you can add these hours to your college applications, be able to possibly write about the experience in your college essays, and most importantly, have a great idea of what you may need to put for a major you would like to pursue in your college applications. Also, you can get a letter of recommendation from your supervisor for your college applications and may even have the opportunity to continue working for your supervisor in the summer after your junior year and get paid (I’ve had seniors tell me this happened a number of times). Nevertheless, if you don’t complete any or all of your required 40 hours before May 31st of your junior year, you do have until March 1st of your senior year to complete the hours.
