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If you happen to visit the Academy on Wednesdays this year, you may find our halls a bit emptier than usual. That's because the majority of seniors are not here; rather, they are participating in Senior Experience in all corners of Bergen County and throughout the metropolitan area. This year, Patricia Hans and I met the challenge of facilitating the placement of 280 seniors with diverse interests, ranging from magic, to forestry, to publishing, to filmmaking, to computer programming, to advertising, to name but a few of the areas being explored this year.
If you are the parent of a junior, you may know something about Senior Experience from your child who is currently attending Gateway Seminar class. If your child is a freshman or sophomore, however, the brief overview below will give you some insight into this unique Academy program.
Senior Experience Overview
In essence, Senior Experience establishes corporate and educational liaisons with the professional community to provide valuable learning opportunities beyond school walls for Academy seniors. Mentors from the professional community have furthered such educational pursuits as scientific investigation in laboratory and research settings, exploration in the humanities and arts in non-profit organizations, exposure to business practices in both corporate institutions and private offices, application of technology in a multitude of computer-related fields, and a multitude of other hands-on activities in a myriad of professional settings. For a complete list of participating mentors, please visit Senior Experience online at http://www.bergen.org/ACADEMY/SeniorExp/.
Through this interactive learning partnership, students increase in depth and scope their knowledge, skills, and abilities in an area that is of personal interest to them under the guidance of a mentor. The relationship formed between the student and the mentor is usually the most significant part of the experience and, as informed by alumni, this relationship often continues well after senior year for many.
Senior Experience Highlights
· Senior Experience is a graduation requirement for which seniors receive 9 academic credits upon successful completion.
· Seniors may opt to find an out-of-house internship or elect to stay in-house to work on a senior project under the guidance of a faculty member.
· No monetary compensation is to be provided to the student for participation.
· Seniors report directly to the internship site every Wednesday from September to June, excluding weeks school is closed for vacation, for the "full business day."
· Students keep a weekly learning log as a record of their accomplishments and reflections, and an academic paper is
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due in the end.
· The program culminates with the Senior Exhibition, consisting of individual half hour presentations before the Academy community and invited guests. This year, the event is tentatively scheduled for May 26 and/or June 2.
The Role of the Mentor
The role of the mentor is highly individualized. Common characteristics include:
· involvement in the student's project and/or internship activities with a commitment to develop the student's knowledge, skills and abilities;
· willingness to serve as a role model in teaching the rituals, language, and expectations of the mentor's profession;
· introduction to the professional standards and processes acceptable to the discipline/profession;
· desire to have educational impact.
Since 1995, when Senior Experience first began, our partnerships with professional organizations have continued to grow over the years, now numbering in the hundreds. Much of this growth and success is due in large measure to the assistance from Academy parents who have outreached to their own personal and professional contacts as potential mentors, either on behalf of their own child or as a general referral. We continue to rely on your support and input for the upcoming Class of 2005, who will actively begin their own Senior Experience process, following the Junior Parent Meeting, scheduled for March 22, 2004.
If you have questions and/or comments on any aspect of Senior Experience, as well as mentor suggestions, please contact me at danpic@bergen.org (ext. 3379) or my colleague Patricia Hans at pathan@bergen.org (ext. 2022).
Finally, we welcome feedback from our senior parents on the impact Senior Experience is having on your child. More than anything, communication is vital to the success of this program. We get the student's perspectives through their learning logs and from weekly meetings in Senior Seminar class, and we get the mentor's perspective from regular phone updates and site visits. As the year goes along, we look forward to hearing from senior parents about their unique perspective on Senior Experience and what its impact on their child's growth and learning.
Visit us at http://www.bergen.org/ACADEMY/SeniorExp/.
-- Gordana "Dana" Picinich
Director, Senior Experience
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