A Meaningful Internship: Mutually Agreed Goals and Expectations
Goal of internship
Students in the Brookline High School Program in Social Justice Leadership are required to complete an internship as part of their training to become life-long leaders for social justice. The aim of the internship is to gain insight into how a social justice organization works to achieve its mission, and to make a real contribution to social justice work beyond the high school setting. The benefit of hosting interns in the BHS Program in Social Justice Leadership is that they are highly motivated to support social justice work and are eager to learn how to make change. Additionally, students participate in classroom-based Social Justice training to support their internship experience.
The most successful internships balance supervised activity with providing opportunities for students to take initiative and work independently. When given the opportunity to complete more than routine and repetitive work, students in the Social Justice Program have proven very valuable to an organization. Some have extended their internships, returned to volunteer at a later date or sought similar work while in college. Students have been informed that because they are short-term volunteers, they may be asked to do only routine and repetitive work and they have been instructed that those tasks are also essential to organizing for social justice and a legitimate request on the part of a host organization.
The most successful and productive internships for both students and sites are those which provide students with: specific goals for their work, regular supervision and a vision for how their work supports the organization. Where students have not been given some interesting tasks or worked largely in isolation, interns have lacked inspiration about the issue their internship addressed, and some even became cynical about working for change. Host organizations should provide at a minimum the experiences outlined below in exchange for a high quality and motivated intern.
Agreement between host organization and student intern
The intern will:
The host organization will:
Internship Agreement (signed by Supervisor and Intern)
Students: Please read the Internship Manual
Return to Internship main page
Students in the Brookline High School Program in Social Justice Leadership are required to complete an internship as part of their training to become life-long leaders for social justice. The aim of the internship is to gain insight into how a social justice organization works to achieve its mission, and to make a real contribution to social justice work beyond the high school setting. The benefit of hosting interns in the BHS Program in Social Justice Leadership is that they are highly motivated to support social justice work and are eager to learn how to make change. Additionally, students participate in classroom-based Social Justice training to support their internship experience.
The most successful internships balance supervised activity with providing opportunities for students to take initiative and work independently. When given the opportunity to complete more than routine and repetitive work, students in the Social Justice Program have proven very valuable to an organization. Some have extended their internships, returned to volunteer at a later date or sought similar work while in college. Students have been informed that because they are short-term volunteers, they may be asked to do only routine and repetitive work and they have been instructed that those tasks are also essential to organizing for social justice and a legitimate request on the part of a host organization.
The most successful and productive internships for both students and sites are those which provide students with: specific goals for their work, regular supervision and a vision for how their work supports the organization. Where students have not been given some interesting tasks or worked largely in isolation, interns have lacked inspiration about the issue their internship addressed, and some even became cynical about working for change. Host organizations should provide at a minimum the experiences outlined below in exchange for a high quality and motivated intern.
Agreement between host organization and student intern
The intern will:
- Contact intern supervisor at the beginning of the school year and schedule the internship (begin and approximate end dates, days of the week, etc.).
- Volunteer at least 1 afternoon per week for a minimum of 2 ½ months (11 visits).
- Complete an Internship Agreement with supervisor at beginning of internship and submit a copy to Mr. Grande/Ms. Leslie and supervisor.
- Arrive on time and remain at the office or work site as agreed.
- Contact supervisor at earliest possible moment if intern will arrive late or is unable to attend.
- Complete assigned work enthusiastically in a quality manner.
- Record a log of hours and have supervisor sign off.
- Take initiative to ask questions, seek clarification, and support the organization beyond the minimum expectations.
- Strive to learn as much as possible.
- Conform to standard of conduct as described in Internship Manual, including appropriate dress.
The host organization will:
- Provide a clearly defined supervisor(s) who will have regular contact with the intern and provide feedback about their work.
- Spend at least 20 minutes at the beginning of the internship outlining the work or project that the supervisor proposes for the student. Discuss how this work supports the mission of the organization and to social justice more generally, and provide an opportunity for student to ask questions.
- Complete the Internship Agreement with student intern at the beginning of internship.
- Participate in a 10-15 minute informal interview/discussion with student during week 4 of the internship that will help student understand the mission of the organization, the importance of the student's work, and insight into how to work for social justice.
- Sign off on student log of hours.
- Complete a very brief online evaluation of intern at the mid-point and end of the internship (1-2 minutes).
Internship Agreement (signed by Supervisor and Intern)
Students: Please read the Internship Manual
Return to Internship main page