Four Violet Reviews: Internship for High School Credit ~ REVIEW

Mahala is rounding one of the last few corners left in our time together homeschooling. It breaks my heart thinking about this wonderful experience we have shared together coming to an end. But, it's on to the next step and that means we are talking about college, a job and skill training. I am a huge advocate of skill training, yes we need our Professional Degree earning people. But, we also need people that learned trades and skills that we need and use weekly, even daily. This next Review is from Apologia Educational Ministries, they sent me their Internship for High School Credit workbook. Mahala has her eyes on college, but honestly I think it's more about playing softball then getting a degree. But, she has many income producing interests right now. One that has made her a great deal of contacts and money is pet sitting/walking services. She's even learning basic K9 training skills to be able to offer in the future too. She plays piano and knows in the future she could make money doing that, but her main passion is photography and she is so good at it. This is where the internship possibility walks in. But, how do you go about finding one? Can it count for school credit? What things do we need to look for when picking a possible internship? What steps does she need to do to be prepared for this internship? I mean there is so many questions and honestly we have kind of been putting it off till this next year because we weren't real sure it was something she could do.

So, let me hop in on this neat program from Apologia Educational Ministries. Right off the bat I love that it's a fairly thin workbook, just in at 99 pages. Mahala was able to bring it along with her on a camping trip the very next weekend after receiving it. It's spiral bound with sturdy covers, so slipping into a backpack or under your arm is super easy and no stress. Right in front the introduction explores what an internship is all about and why one may be the best option for your teen. Mahala was thrilled to find out the workbook was going to be used throughout the whole process and beyond. So, your student doesn't have to complete a long program before making the first contact.

The workbook is divided into 5 parts. The first part Mahala spent a lot of time reading, highlighting and talking with Dad and I. It walked her through the process of determining what kind of internship is suitable for her and how to start the ball rolling. We had never thought about getting High School Credit for her internship. Mahala and I were both excited about the potential in that. Next she wrote her very first resume and practiced writing letters of introduction that she could include. Mahala appreciated seeing samples of each in the book to give her an idea. Dad even pulled out a few of his old ones from college to share too. Finally the section about the Interview, what to expect, tips and what to bring proved to be helpful for her and made for great conversation between us all.
Part 2 is info for the Parents. We decided to read it along with her, just as an added bonus of information for her. We learned about Labor Laws and how to keep track of her credits and hours. Part 3 and 4 is where all the worksheets come into play. I love that there are verses and reference to the Bible throughout the workbook. The worksheets are amazing, they help track Semester goals and these really neat weekly sheet that offers a grid for tracking hours but also has questions and activities. Like paying attention to the attire everyone is wearing with tips on how to dress appropriately and safely. Questions to ask your mentors and fellow employees. You are asked to make lists of terminology you come across. Since Mahala is looking at a photography internship she has a long list of words that she knows what they mean, but is planning to cross it off when she hears it getting used in the field. I looked forward to some of the worksheets she hasn't filled out yet and I love the inspirational messages throughout and the activities that asks her to list her strengths and abilities. I love that the focus is on improving yourself and opening your world to gather and collect knowledge. I also appreciate the thought provoking questions that will make her dig deeper to understand more about herself and the motivation behind her choice in a photography internship. I love that this workbook has thought of it all. There is a place to write down contacts for the future, gained skills during this experience, reflecting on how it's progressing and star gazing to the future and what that may look like. The activities call for you to get even further out of your comfort zone. You get asked to learn even more about your profession, write a few papers about a career field, about how you approach projects and tasks. And there is even performance reports for during and at the end of the semester.
The last part of the workbook offers your final writing assignment and thank you letters along with an example. Also it reminds you to not forget about asking for a Letter of Recommendation. Those are golden in the career world. Along with that you can add to your resume your work and internship experience.

So, what did we think? Mahala enjoyed reading through the Internship for High School Credit workbook and has started implementing what she has learned. She already has a few leads to be able to fatten her resume before she graduates next year. We knew she wanted to do an internship, but didn't understand the whole process. We do fully understand now since reading and going through this workbook. It is a lot to do, but it's doable when you know the process. I suggest this for anyone to get and read that's even going into High School. I wish we would have had this a few years ago. But, we still have time and she is totally more confident and feels less stressed about going this route the last year of school. Who knows what the future holds, if she will go to college or not. But, she will have some experience and hands on knowledge that will definitely give her a leg up in whatever direction she goes.