What is Internship?
Four weeks. Real workplaces. Real experience.
From May 10–June 4, 11th-grade students step outside the classroom and into professional organizations connected to their interests. Students find and secure their own internship placements, gain hands-on experience, and learn how to build successful professional relationships.
What Will You Gain
See what it’s really like to work in a professional environment.
Develop practical and professional skills through hands-on experience.
Build experiences you can draw on for college applications, resumes, and future opportunities.
Build confidence, independence, communication skills, and a stronger sense of what interests you.
Internship Requirements
Minimum 30-35 hours a week
Workplace mentor with a college degree
Weekly Google Classroom updates with photos, work samples, and a written reflection of your learning experience
A project that contributes to your internship site
Two site visits from the supervising teacher
Internship Presentation of Learning (IPOL) on site if possible
Once you secure your internship, you fill out the 11th Grade Student Internship Commitment Form.
You will send your mentor the "Mentor Committment Form"
Electronically sign the handbook (this needs to be signed by you, your parent, and your mentor)
Internship preview site visit: TBD.
Submit weekly blogs, photos, timesheets, and other assignments on Google Classroom.
IPOL Day: June 5th 2026
Send a thank you email to your mentor!
Confirm internship details with your new intern in writing via email with the following information:
Name of the host organization
Mentor email address
Mentor phone number
Internship site address
You will receive an email asking you to sign the handbook electronically.
Confirm with your intern the date of site visit
Provide supervision, coaching, and guidance throughout the internship.
Support your intern in scheduling their final presentation to your organization (IPOL) to be held June 5, 2026
How many hours are required for Internship?
Internship is 30-35 hours per week which is approximately 6-7 hours per day.
Does my paid job count for Internship?
No. your paid job does not count as Internship experience.
Will the school provide transportation?
No, Students are responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from their internship site.
Can I do an internship with my family member?
Not with an immediate family member. A cousin, aunt, uncle, or other extended family member may serve as a mentor as long as they meet the internship mentor requirements.
What if I want to do my internship outside of San Diego?
Possibly! Talk with your internship advisor to discuss your plans and requirements.
Interview Day
Wednesday, February 24, 2027 from 9:00 am - Noon
Goals:
Students meet potential “right fit” mentors
Students hone interview/professional communication skills
What students have done:
Develop resumes
Conduct mock interviews with 12th graders who participated in the Academic Internship program last year
Search to learn a little about the companies/organizations with whom they’ll be interviewing
What we hope you’ll do:
Introduce yourself warmly and make them feel welcome in the conversation
Simulate a real interview environment
Keep in mind that for many students, this will be their FIRST experience in an interview, and they’ll be nervous no matter how much preparation they’ve had!
Provide kind, specific, and helpful feedback
Resources
If you're not sure what kinds of questions you might ask, here's a great list that students have also been using to prepare.
Sample job descriptions for interns in various industries. Feel free to approach this interview as if you're hiring for one of these positions if that's helpful! I'll continue adding to this list over the
Details:
Each interview will take about 15 minutes (10 for Q&A and 5 for you to provide feedback) with 5 minutes of transition time afterward so we can get kids situated and so you can catch your breath in between!
Interviews will be one on one with you and a student - there shouldn’t be any group interviews.
We do the best we can to line students up with mentors/interviewers in industries that align with their interests. As you can imagine, we don’t get it 100% perfect, so please ask students about their interests and interview them accordingly. If what they want is right up your alley, you’re welcome to interview them for a specific job or role as an intern with your organization. If what they want isn’t totally lined up, feel free to be a little more flexible. Regardless, they should know something about you and be prepared to talk about the organization you work for.
Most students have done some research about you, but as ever things are changing (and will likely continue to do so throughout the morning with absences and such), so feel free to ask if they had a chance to do so. If they didn’t, please know it’s likely not their fault!
Students have prepared using this list of interview questions, mostly focused on the “Basic interview questions” and “Behavioral interview questions” sections. The specific wording of the questions is less important than making sure the student has the opportunity to discuss the following kinds of things (the more prompting for elaboration you can do, the better - follow up questions are gold!):
A “tell me about yourself” question
Strengths and interests
Weaknesses/areas of growth
Relevant experience to your industry OR the industry of their interest (this might be a productive route, particularly if you’re mock interviewing)
What their working style is, how they best receive feedback, and what kinds of environments they thrive in
Times they’ve encountered conflict in a professional (or school) setting and how they handled it
How they learn best
Leadership opportunities/experiences
Their favorite project and what they learned from it
Questions they have
Make sure you have time (5 min) for (kind, specific, helpful) feedback!
