Passages Intern Handbook

The Community School
P.O. Box 555
Camden, Maine 04843

The intent of this handbook is to introduce future Passages interns to The Community School and the Passages Program, specifically. It describes the basic expectations of and opportunities available to future interns. By sharing insights gained over the course of the past year, this handbook will assist you in creating an individualized internship that will be most beneficial to you and the Passages program alike.

Part I: Three Programs, One Building

Located in the small town of Camden, The Community School is the oldest state-approved, independent high school in the state of Maine. The Community School offers a relational learning program that transforms the nature of a high school education. The school provides students with the skills and the experience necessary to discover their strengths, connect with their families, practice personal responsibility, and contribute to their communities. Students with non-traditional learning styles, problematic family and social backgrounds, or a history of disengagement in conventional schools who are motivated to complete high school are welcome applicants. Three programs are offered at The Community School: Residential- a six-month live-in program; Passages - a home based teen parent program; and Outreach - a program for alumni and their families. The Passages Program is described in further detail below, while additional information regarding Residential and Outreach can be found at www.thecommunityschool.org.

The Passages Program

The Passages Program has served pregnant and parenting young adults from the Mid Coast area since 1994. Passages is a home-based high school diploma program for parents ages 14-22. With the support of a one-to-one teacher who visits the student in their home once a week, each student engages in self-directed learning that focuses on parenting and life concerns, in addition to academic skills. Coursework in 23 designated areas is supplemented by the students' participation in workshops that are generally facilitated by representatives from community agencies. After completing work on a majority of the core skills, "The Passage", is an opportunity for the student to design an individual project that addresses a particular passion, fear or need in her life. Modeled on the Walkabout, a rite of passage for youths in aboriginal Australia, the Passage allows the student to utilize the skills learned in the program. The student is responsible for assembling a committee of staff, students and community members to support her throughout this culminating experience.

Part II: Internships with the Passages Program

Becoming a Passages Intern

Individuals with an interest in the areas of alternative education, secondary education, social work, and women's issues or in working with at-risk youth will find working with this student population stimulating. Whether you are pursuing an education in one of these specific fields or have developed an interest in these areas through a liberal arts course of studies, you are welcome to apply as an intern. It is expected that Passages interns be organized, independent, and love babies as well as possess childcare, administrative and peer counseling skills. Passages Internships are largely self-directed, so it is important for you to think about why you have chosen this organization and what you hope to learn from your experience here. While there are some basic guidelines and expectations, there is also plenty of room for flexibility. The following model was developed based on the recommendations of the Passages staff and the experience of the first Passages intern who worked full time for an entire year.

If you are interested in becoming a Passages intern, the first step is to contact the Program Director. Send a copy of your resume, a cover letter stating your interest and any reference letters you may have to the address listed on the top of this page, attention Passages Director. Once those materials have been reviewed, you will interview with the Passages Director, either over the phone or in person. Once you have completed your interview with the Director, she will decide whether to invite you for a follow-up interview with the full staff. Upon notification that you have been accepted as an intern, one of the first things that you will be asked to do, in collaboration with the director, is to create an intern contract. Contracts are important at The Community School because they define specific roles and allocate responsibilities in a way that is clear and agreed upon by everyone involved. While a solid contract can serve as an extremely useful tool to turn to when chaos strikes and expectations become unclear, the intent is not to restrict or limit you. If your needs or interests change, and/or the needs or interests of the program change, you are welcome to work with your advisor to amend the contract.

Before you begin your contract, you should think about your expectations going into the internship. Take some time to articulate your interests, areas of expertise, and personal/academic goals. Imagine what you would like to have gained by the time you leave and try to think beyond gaining a particular teaching skill or information. Feel free to explore the different programs and determine if and how you would like to integrate parts of each into your internship. Once you have brainstormed a list of thoughts, ideas and expectations, work with your advisor(s) to create a contract that best meets the needs of everyone involved.

What the Contract Should Contain

Logistics

The logistics section of your contract should contain the exact dates of your internship and trial period. The trial period will last one to two months, depending on the length of your internship, and is a designated period of time that allows you to get a feel for the program and allows the staff to get acquainted with you, your interests, and your skills. Some examples of things that might be required of you during your trial period are designing and facilitating a workshop, assisting the director with a specific administrative project, or observing and conducting home visits and in-depth interviews. At the completion of the trial period, you and the staff will have the opportunity to determine together how best to structure your remaining time with Passages, based on your interactions with students and your work in various other areas. This section of the contract should also delineate whether you will work full or part time, state vacation and sick day allowances, determine mileage and reimbursement arrangements, articulate the financial arrangements, and designate the terms of supervision (who and when).

Supervision

This section of the contract outlines the terms of your supervision while working with Passages. The director will serve as your administrative supervisor. The other staff members will likely rotate as your teaching supervisor, depending on the extent to which you work directly with students. You may also receive outside clinical supervision, again, depending on the extent to which you work directly with students. Emanuel Pariser, co-founder of the Community School, may also be available to serve as your mentor throughout your internship with Passages.

Focus Areas and Goals

Here, in collaboration with the Director, you will outline your areas of interest and expertise, as well as define clearly the list of goals for your internship.

Duties and Responsibilities

Together with the Director you will clarify the expectations of what your duties will entail. Some expectations will be consistent for all interns: enforce school rules, procedures and policies; attend weekly staff meetings and bi-weekly all school meetings; participate in staff retreats, workweek, conferences and trainings for staff; and attend Passages functions, including Wednesday morning workshops, trips and graduations. Depending on your interests, your schedule and the current needs of the program, the expectations for your duties and responsibilities will vary.

The following is a description of some of the duties and responsibilities you may be asked to take on that will be determined on an individual basis. This is a great opportunity for you to brainstorm with your mentor about appropriate responsibilities that will best serve all parties involved. Generally speaking, the definition of your duties will be based on a triangular model with three basic components. First, what duties would directly benefit you, the intern, based on your goals and interests? Second, what duties would directly benefit the Passages administrative and teaching staff? And third, what duties would be mutually beneficial?

Some examples that encompass all three components include: taking part in trainings in the relational model of education, participating in discussions on alternative education and Maine education models, and job shadowing staff to observe different teaching and learning styles. You may consider assisting with workshop organization, compiling and distributing monthly newsletters, performing general office support, organizing curriculum materials, maintaining student computers, recruiting new students, and/or researching funding sources. Other more in-depth examples include creating a student workshop or other event for students and/or Passages' graduates, observing and conducting student interviews, assisting staff with curriculum development, tutoring students, taking on a one-to-one student, attending conferences and trainings, and serving on student Passage committees.

Teaching Internships

If you are interested in gaining experience teaching within the relational model, the following guidelines may be useful in defining the terms of the teaching portion of your internship. In order to be most beneficial to both you and the program, teaching internships must be at least six and twelve months. It was our experience that this amount of time is required in order for an intern to fully orient herself to and effectively integrate herself into the program. Shorter periods of time for your internship may be negotiable but may limit your access to actual teaching time, depending on the circumstances.

The six-month teaching internship entails a trial period of one month, during which you will observe at least one home visit and one in-depth interview and then conduct one of each under the Director's supervision. During the trial period, you will also job shadow at least two of the teacher/counselors on visits with students. It is important to allow enough time for you, the teacher and the student to settle into a comfortable routine after the addition of another teacher (you, the intern). You will work with the teacher to make sure that you give yourselves ample opportunity for introductions, observation, assisting in the lesson plans, and then designing your own lesson plans to be conducted with the students. Be prepared for the director and teacher to request you NOT sit in or participate in meetings with particular students. Many of the students in the program live in unstable situation and are in desperate need of consistency and stability. Introducing more people into their education setting than necessary may be detrimental to these students, so don't take it personally. This should be a beneficial experience to everyone involved and staff will work to make sure that no students' education is compromised.

After successful completion of the trial period, you will work with the director and your teaching supervisors to determine if tutoring some students would work. Students who could most benefit from tutoring will be selected based on personality, circumstance, and academic style. You may tutor a student for a period of one to three months with the goal of completing one core skill per month. The student's primary one-to-one teacher will observe you for at least one meeting a month and will remain in regular phone contact with the student. Regular and open communication is absolutely essential in preventing triangulation. During the time you are tutoring, you will have regular supervision with both the director and the primary one-to-one at the same time so as to prevent misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
The yearlong teaching internship entails much of the same as the six-month teaching internship. The major difference is that full year interns may have the opportunity to become the primary one-to-one for one or more Passages students, in addition to the other responsibilities.

Part III: Program Policies and Requirements

Respect

No name-calling, put downs, or verbal attacks. Global disrespect (homophobia, sexism, racism, etc.), hostile or contemptuous behavior, harassment, and/or verbal abuse towards a teacher, staff, or other students.

Alcohol

No alcoholic beverages are allowed on school property. Any student appearing inebriated or suspected of drinking during workshops or any other C-school function, will be confronted and asked to leave. A personal assessment will be made between student (and parent, if appropriate) and staff regarding disciplinary action, up to and including suspension from the program.

Substances

No illegal substances or paraphernalia on school grounds. Grounds include the house, yard, van, staff-school vehicles used for school purposes, and any space being used for school activities (such as the Teen Center, Hutchinson Center, etc.) No dealing of illegal substances or negotiating such activities on school property or during school functions. Any student determined to be "high" at the time of a weekly meeting with their teacher will be considered incapacitated and will result in a cancellation (or "no-show").

Tobacco

No smoking or tobacco use within two blocks of the school, on school grounds, in school vehicles, or in staff vehicles used for C-school transport. No smoking on Trim St., Spring St., Knowlton St., or within two blocks of the school on Washington St. This rule pertains to all visitors as well.

Violence

No violence or threats of violence between school members whether on school property or not.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality between a student and her/his one-to-one will be respected unless a school or community rule has been broken or the situation may be threatening to the safety of themselves or others. In those cases, the one-to-one will consult with other staff to determine consequences.

Parking

Personal vehicles should be parked in the C-school parking lot or in the Camden Middle School parking lot to the rear of the school on Knowlton St. Drop-offs and pick-ups may be made in front of the school on Washington St., but parking during workshops or other C-school activities is not allowed in front of the school and the owners of vehicles parked in this area will be asked to move them directly.

Transportation

Students are responsible to arrange their own rides to workshops and other C-school activities. If they need transportation provided by the school it is the student's responsibility to notify staff ahead of time so arrangements can be made.

Voluntary Inactive Status

Students may choose to take an "inactive " period for up to three months, once during their enrollment in Passages. We will respect your choice to elect this time off. Details will be left up to you and your one to one and will be relayed to the Program Director. The student must sign the "inactive form," including the length of the inactive, when the decision is made.

Involuntary Inactive Status

An involuntary inactive will be mandated if the student has not contacted their one-to-one for more than three consecutive weeks OR if the student has had six classes with no shows or little to no work done within three months. Before the 90 days inactive period is up, the student needs to call the Passages Program Director to set a date to meet with staff. During this meeting they must answer the following questions:

What changes have you made so that re-enrolling is possible?
What plan do you have for meeting regularly and completing your schoolwork?
What support do you need from us?

At the end of this meeting staff will caucus to make a decision. If re-admitted the student will need to successfully complete a ten week trial period.

No-shows/Unpreparedness

Students are responsible to cancel a meeting or workshop, giving as much advance notice as possible. No-shows will be documented and may lead to suspension from the program during the Trial Period. No-shows after the Trial Period can result in an involuntary inactive status. The student is also responsible for being prepared for class. This includes, in addition to having completed homework, providing a clean, uncluttered, workable space with minimal distractions. If the student's home is unavailable the student and teacher will contract to meet elsewhere.

Cancellations

Student's are responsible for canceling and rescheduling meetings, including workshops. The student is asked to contact their one-to-one as soon as they become aware that a cancellation needs to be made, giving the teacher as much notice as possible. Cancellations can be made by calling (866) 517-6678 or (207) 236-8814 and leaving a message on the teacher's voice mail or can be made by e-mail. The direct Passages number is (207) 236-8814. The number for leaving voice mail is (207) 236-8404. Please note that the (207) 236-3000 number is for the Residential Program only.

Equipment/Materials on Loan

Computers, books, audio or videotapes, or other items loaned to the student must be returned to the C-school upon completion of use. The student is responsible to return these items in the same condition as when they were loaned. The student accepts full financial accountability for any damage or loss.

Mandated Reporting

All Community School employees are mandated by state law to report suspected cases of abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services. This includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse as well as physical, emotional, or educational neglect of minors.

Student Vacation/Sick Day Policy

Students are entitled to take one week of vacation for every three months of meeting regularly and completing assignments. This equals one class week. You should notify your teacher of vacation time as soon as possible. Students receive one sick day for every three months of regular classes. If the class can be rescheduled during the same week, it will not count as a sick day. A sick day may be taken if your baby is too sick for you to do school. If you have more than one child an extra sick day will be added for each 6 months of class time.

Passages Graduation Requirements

Students must complete 23 course skills and a written transcript for each. In addition, they must attend 5 workshops and contribute 6 hours of community service. The final requirement is completing a Passage Project which involves forming a committee of 6 members: an expert, your one-to-one, another Passages teacher, a current student, a graduate student, and a personal advocate. The Passage consists of three meetings in which at least five of the six must be consistently present. The three meetings consist of an Interest Meeting, a Proposal Meeting, and a Final Presentation.

Part IV: Additional Information

Camden is a beautiful, small town in Mid Coast Maine. The population remains around 4,000 in the winter months and then swells to around 10,000 in the summer time. Residents flock from around the world to their Maine summer homes and vacation spots. There are a plethora of outdoor activities to amuse you year-round. From kayaking, hiking, climbing, and sailing in the summer to snow shoeing, skating, skiing and tobogganing at the town's ski hill Snowbowl in the winter. All throughout the year, there are many other forms of entertainment such as the Blues Festival, the Lobster Festival, the Commonground Fair, visits to the Farnsworth Arts museum. As far as food is concerned, there are a number of great places with a fair amount of variety for such a small place. Just ask around when you get here. Everyone on staff and in town will be more than happy to introduce you to various activities in and around the Camden area.