Author Topic: INTERNS: Creating a High School Internship  (Read 3866 times)

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bpaige

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INTERNS: Creating a High School Internship
« on: Mar 25, 2015, 09:44 pm »
I'm currently in the process of assisting my theatre company in revamping our high school internship program. I would love if anyone can point me in the direction of other high school internships in theatres or could give me a copy of another theatre's high school internship handbook of some sort.

I would greatly appreciate any help in regards to this. Thanks!

Maribeth

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Re: INTERNS: Creating a High School Internship
« Reply #1 on: Mar 31, 2015, 08:00 pm »
I don't have a handbook for you, but one thing that I think is important is to have some form of "check-in" with the intern throughout the course of the internship. It could be weekly, or at the beginning and end of the internship, or after every show- the frequency might be determined by the length of the internship.

Having a check-in allows you to ensure that the intern is getting an educational experience, and identify any potential issues with them before they become big problems. It allows you to hear from them about their experience- what they are having trouble with, what they're enjoying, what they would like to learn more about, etc. It also allows you to give them constructive feedback, and adjust their responsibilities and assignments accordingly.

I also think it's important to have them keep a timesheet, so that there is an accurate record of hours worked.

One theatre that I worked at did a bi-weekly staff meeting, and at the end of the meeting we had the interns tell us what they were working on that week, and what outside shows and projects they had going on. It really made them feel like a "part of the team" and the staff was always happy to hear about their work.

Jonas_A

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Re: INTERNS: Creating a High School Internship
« Reply #2 on: Oct 31, 2015, 11:02 am »
As someone's who's had to do internships (although as a uni student), Maribeth's idea of a check-in is one which I know a lot of us would appreciate. Making the expectations clear is also appreciated: We often don't know whether companies expect us to be completely observational ("Please don't even touch that prop") or an unpaid crew member ("We can't do this run without you!") and oftentimes the answer lies in a very opaque grey space. Clarify and you'll get what you need from them.

Sadly can't provide any kind of handbook, but message me if this is still something you're working on and you'd like to hear how a uni/college which has students doing 100+ internships a year handles it.