Category: Major/Career Guidance

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:

1. You have from the day after your sophomore year ends through May 31st of your junior year to complete the required 40 hours.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. Begin your Junior Practicum!

What is required for you to complete during and after you complete your 20 required Sophomore Externship hours?

1. 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”).
2. Complete a project assigned to you by your supervisor.
3. 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.

The mission of DC is “to educate students who will serve God and impact the world through Biblical thought and action”. Much of this education obviously occurs daily on our campus as the students at DC complete coursework, interact with their teachers, take unique electives and participate in extracurricular activities. As students enter 10th grade, we also believe that our students need to interact with professionals off campus to explore their interests, curiosity and gifts in a career field of interest. In order to do this we require our 10th graders to complete a Sophomore Externship, which is 20 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 experience.

What to know when planning for Sophomore Externship:

1. You have from the day after your freshman year ends through May 31st of your sophomore year to complete the required 20 hours.
2. These hours can be completed at any time beyond the classes you are scheduled to take at DC. You can complete Sophomore Externship hours during the summer, PRT time, days off of school or one of the two SAIL weeks (November or April).
3. Talk with your parents, friends and others that can help you know of someone that would be good for you to intern for. 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.
4. Use results from the YouScience assessment to assist in understanding what occupation/profession you may want to intern for. After we complete this assessment in Sophomore Seminar the first month of school, you will know and understand your results.
5. If you have asked a couple of professionals whether you can complete your Sophomore Externship 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.

1. If a potential supervisor would like to know more about the Sophomore Externship program, they can view the Sophomore Externship Guidelines and Supervisor Information forms.
2. 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.
3. Go to the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you and is 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 Sophomore Externship Contract” form.
4. Begin your Sophomore Externship!

What is required for you to complete during and after you complete your 20 required Sophomore Externship hours?

1. Once you and your supervisor have agreed to the ’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Contract”, log your completed hours in the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship 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”).
2. Complete a project assigned to you by your supervisor.
3. Once your 20 hours are logged, you must complete the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Student Evaluation Form”. The link to this form is in the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form”.

Below are some FAQ’s regarding the Sophomore Externship that you may have:

Why Sophomore Year?

In my opinion, sophomores are mature enough to explore the options they may have when it comes to vocation and career options. I go through The YouScience aptitude/interest assessment results with them in Sophomore Seminar class at the beginning of the school year. This information provides them with a number of occupations that may be a good fit for them. Also, the earlier you start, the earlier future internship opportunities may be available as a junior or senior. Lastly, it’s a great time to encourage improvement in the soft skills and networking skills that will be needed in their future.

Can I complete my intern hours with more than one supervisor?

Yes. You must complete at least 10 hours with one supervisor. For sophomores, this means you may have up to two different supervisors to complete the 20 hours required.

Could I intern with a family member?

Although I think it would be more beneficial to intern with someone you don’t know as well. You also could have a great internship experience with a relative. So yes, you can intern with a family member. The only requirement is that it cannot be your parent.

Can I complete my intern hours with a faculty or staff member at DC?

Yes, however, you must have contact with someone outside of DC for your internship to be approved.

If I can’t drive, how can I do an internship?

I understand that this is a challenge as a sophomore when completing an internship. Parents, you will most likely need to take your son or daughter to their internship and pick them up. However, 20 hours is not a lot of hours. To complete 20 hours you are looking at 3 full working days or 5-6 half days.

Are these service hours?

No, these hours are different than service hours. These are hours in which you are observing/job shadowing a professional at a company or business. If you have a question as to whether you think what you want to do for your Sophomore Externship hours overlaps with service hours please let me know.

When can I start?

When you know who your supervisor will be for your internship, go to the “’23-’24 Sophomore Externship Hourly Log Form” that was shared with you, and enter you and your supervisors information. Then email me and provide me with your supervisor’s name, business/company name and email address. I will contact your supervisor and then you are good to go to log your hours on the “hourly log form”.

What if I don’t know what profession/career I would like to intern for at all?

Wait until we review your YouScience assessment results in October and then you will have a lot of great information to consider. It’s okay to not know what you may want to major in or career you want to pursue as a 15 year old. I don’t think someone at this age should know. You can make a decision, however, on what interests you and what you are curious about. Is there an occupation you think is really interesting? Maybe you’ve observed someone you know or have seen someone on TV in this occupation. I would encourage you to explore this curiosity and interest, get out of your comfort zone a bit and intern with a supervisor in this particular occupation.

Can I complete all of my Sophomore Externship intern hours in the Sophomore Career Week class the 2nd SAIL week?

Yes, if you sign up to be in the Sophomore Externship SAIL class, I will contact you and ask what occupation you are interested in interning for. I will then email you one or more potential supervisors that you can contact and ask if you could intern with them. We will have class on Monday and Tuesday of SAIL week (morning and afternoon). These classes are interactive and I bring speakers in to help you understand various career options and how to prepare for and conduct yourself when completing your Sophomore Externship. The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Sophomore Career Week you will be interning full days (at least 7 hours). You are responsible for your transportation to and from your Sophomore Externship. You must also return to school for any extracurricular activities you are committed to (drama, choir, athletics, etc.)