Summer Professional Learning Experience AppROVAL
IMPORTANT: In order to receive credit for a summer job shadowing experience, you MUST submit an Early Proposal prior to your experience. Hours that are served without a proposal and approval from BRVGS will not count.
The due date for Summer Professional Learning Proposals is June 30th, but if an opportunity arises after that, email the Director and your local senior advisor(s) to find out if you can go ahead with that opportunity.
If you have questions about whether your professional learning idea is acceptable, please contact your school's BRVGS Senior Advisor(s) BEFORE submitting your idea. To see the list of Senior Advisors by school, please go to: https://brvgs.k12.va.us/directory
If you wish to serve part (or all) of your professional learning
experience in the summer, you should do the following:
Have as much specific information about WHAT you wish to do, with WHOM, and WHEN, including an estimate of how many hours you wish to complete. Making arrangements usually requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone call, rather than just an email. An email can be a good starting point prior to phone or in-person contact - here is a sample email for initial contact with a mentor.
As soon as you have the necessary information for your summer learning experience, you should submit the BRVGS Early Proposal form between May 1 and June 30. You will receive an email letting you know if your proposal is approved or if additional information is required. If an opportunity arises after that, email the Director and your local senior advisor(s) to find out if you can go ahead with that opportunity.
Once approved, you must document all summer hours served by printing and completing the BRVGS Senior Log Form and having it signed by your supervising mentor(s) or, if necessary, get them to confirm your documented hours by email.
As possible, you should get high-quality photographs of your summer learning experience for your website. If you cannot get pictures of your actual work (if you are working in a hospital, for example), get pictures of yourself at the place where you served in front of their sign.
If you complete all of your summer learning experience hours during the summer, you will need to have your mentor complete a Mentor Evaluation form. This form should be given to your mentor, along with a stamped envelope addressed to your advisor at your high school address.
You should complete three journals in a Google Doc, shared with your senior advisor as an “editor”. These journals should be "reflective" - like why you chose this topic, what challenges or surprises have you encountered, your reaction to your first actual experiences with the learning experience. Each journal should be dated, should have a title, and should follow the guidelines established on the Senior Journal Page of the senior site