Struggling to Find Work-Based Learning Opportunities for Students? Schools and Districts Should Consider Creating their Own

Work-based learning (WBL) provides an incredibly valuable way for students to connect their classroom learning to real-world applications. It can build student motivation and provide students hands-on experiences to inform the types of work that interest them and how that might align with their postsecondary plans and aspirations. 

School leaders across the country have recognized the importance of offering their students WBL opportunities and many are working to develop a robust set of industry partners who can offer job shadowing and internship experiences to students. With the growing demand for WBL, however, it can be challenging to identify enough local businesses for the number of interested students as well as the various fields and specialties students hope to explore. With that backdrop, schools and districts should think creatively about how district offices, departments, and personnel can support WBL efforts to broaden the opportunities available to students. 

School Districts are Ideal for WBL Opportunities

Given the wide array of services they provide and the number of individuals required to support school operations, school districts are often one of the biggest employers in any given community. School district operations include a wide variety of types of work. Districts rely on the skills and expertise from human resources, buildings and grounds, health services, school nutrition, special education, transportation, athletics, and more to meet the needs of their students, families, and staff. With this wide diversity of specialities and kinds of work, districts, themselves, can provide powerful WBL opportunities for students across many different fields of interest

Potential School- or District-Based WBL Programs and Roles: 

Information and Technology Maintenance, Repair, & Support: A school district’s information and technology department does a wide range of work–installing, maintaining, and repairing the district's software and hardware and responding to any needs within the district’s school and office buildings. Student interns might help IT staff to repair school devices or assist teachers and other students in troubleshooting technology issues via a Helpdesk. These types of WBL opportunities provide important layers of support to district technology staff and help students interested in technology fields gain foundational skills and experience. 

Communications Interns: District communications departments provide timely and accurate information to students, families, and the broader community, sharing about the district’s programs and initiatives. They are responsible for maintaining district websites, overseeing district communications, and managing the district’s public relations. Students working with the communications department would gain insights into the most effective ways to communicate–a skill that is highly transferable to other marketing and communications roles. Students could bring the important perspective of the best ways to reach students–possibly taking on a role as a social media intern to communicate information and updates or working to increase student engagement at school arts or sports events. 

Supporting School Board Members as Student Interns: The work of a school board requires research, communication, advocacy, accountability, and community engagement. Students might serve as interns to board members or provide assistance on board initiatives, particularly those that include community engagement. Supporting the efforts of the school board provides students with leadership skill development and opportunities to serve the community in real and meaningful ways. School board members would also likely benefit from the perspective of a student as many of the decisions made by the board have direct impacts on students and their school environments. 

Teaching Assistants: For students interested in pursuing careers in education, the school district is an ideal place for WBL experiences. From one-day job shadowing, regular drop-in classroom assistance for a few hours each week, or even a part-time role working with a student who might benefit from extra support, there are many ways for high schoolers to support the other schools within the district. Or, students interested in the arts or music might intern with district staff in these departments. Someone interested in pursuing theater, for example, might serve as an intern to the middle school director. Or, someone who wants to learn more about art, might work as an intern within the art department–helping the teachers to prepare materials, create models of projects, fire pottery, or assist students as they create. These types of cross-grade WBL partnerships often foster meaningful relationships and learning for all involved. 

Food Service Assistants: Food service directors not only have to prepare and serve food to students, they must plan menus that meet government nutritional guidelines, order ingredients, and hire staff. For students interested in the culinary arts, working with the food service team could provide a way to learn important food preparation and safety skills, offering experiences that might support future job attainment or culinary school acceptance. Students in Cleveland are interning in the school cafeteria as part of a pilot program. The participating high schoolers help with set up and clean up efforts after the lunch period, learning about food service while also reducing burden on cafeteria staff from hard-to-fill vacancies. 

‍Athletic Interns: Most schools have a variety of different personnel that work with their athletes.  Athletic directors participate in strategic planning, coordinate with other districts, ensure compliance with state rules and regulations, hire coaches, monitor the maintenance of athletic facilities, and manage program budgets. Coaches and athletic trainers work closer with athletes–teaching the sport and ensuring the health and wellbeing of the athletes. Students interested in any aspect of athletics could gain valuable experience and insights in these settings. An assistant to the athletic director might help with event ticketing or  student engagement at games and an athletic training intern could help with equipment and supply set up and take down. Having students support teams as part of work-based learning opportunities widens the reach and impact that athletics can have within a district and further focuses them on student development and lifelong success.   

A Meaningful and Beneficial Partnership for All

Logistically, in-district WBL can be far easier to coordinate than partnering with outside businesses. Schedules that easily sync to district calendars and existing communication channels among district staff work to create a relatively seamless integration of WBL.  For these reasons, districts who are just getting started with WBL might find internal district opportunities a perfect way to begin. 

Beyond an ease of logistics and simply having a variety of types of work available, internal district work-based learning opportunities can be particularly beneficial for students, staff, and the district as a whole. These roles and the efforts from students can allow districts and schools to increase their own capacity–allowing for innovative projects, pilot programs, and additional forms of support–all while giving students hands-on learning experience. And many who work within school districts share a belief in the power of teaching and learning and look to have an impact on the lives of students. For this reason, many district personnel would likely be highly receptive to these opportunities and find a deep sense of purpose in participation as a WBL mentor–particularly for staff who work outside the classroom and have less direct contact with students. These relationships also allow districts to gain important insights and feedback about the needs of the students they serve. This mutually beneficial WBL collaboration can add a deep sense of meaning for participating students, staff, and the broader school and district community as it fosters a profound and intentional focus on student engagement, learning, and future success.