Field Experience
Handbook
Keep this. Everything you need to know about how this course works is in here, and almost every question you'll have this semester is answered on one of these pages.
- Your timesheet and reflection are due every Sunday by 11:59 PM. If they aren't in, you don't go to work that week until they are. This is the one rule with no exceptions.
- 60 hours minimum. Track them as you go, not from memory at the end of the month.
- Start collecting portfolio artifacts in week one. The photo you didn't take in September is gone in December.
Some of you meet every day for one semester and work at an outside business or organization. Others meet on A days for the full year and run your own business or work for a school enterprise like Bulldog Media. You have the same requirements, the same grading categories, and the same weights — the only difference is where the work happens and who evaluates it. Where this handbook says something applies to only one track, it says so.
Before you go anywhere, you get ready. Bootcamp is 16 activities across four phases, and it is 25% of your course grade — each activity is scored on its own. You will have a real grade in this class before you ever set foot at a placement.
Every one of these activities produces something you will actually use: a resume you'll apply with, a pitch you'll deliver at the capstone, an interview you'll survive, a plan you'll be held to. Nothing in bootcamp is busywork designed to fill three weeks. If you can't see how an activity connects to the job, ask — there's an answer.
2. Career & Self-Assessment — rate yourself on the 10 employability skills; this is your baseline
3. Your Professional Brand — google yourself, clean it up, build LinkedIn and an email signature
4. Resume Workshop — build it, get feedback, revise it, submit it
5. Explore & Apply — research placements and submit a real application
7. Interview Skills — STAR answers, what to wear, body language
8. Mock Interview — peer speed interviews, then a real interview with a community partner
9. Interview Improvement Plan — take the feedback and do something with it
11. Meet Your 10 Employability Skills — what you're actually assessed on all semester
12. Post-Assessment — re-rate the 10 skills and see your growth
13. Placement Confirmed — your site, your supervisor, your paperwork
15. Internship Plan of Success — your roadmap for the semester
16. Launch Day — set your #1 goal and go
How a bootcamp activity is scored
| Score | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| 4 | Submitted on time and genuinely strong — you went past the prompt and made it your own. |
| 3 | Submitted on time and complete. You did what was asked, properly. This is the target. |
| 2 | Late, or incomplete — missing sections, one-line answers, checklist items unchecked. |
| 1 | Barely attempted. Something arrived, but it doesn't show you engaged with the activity. |
| INC | Nothing submitted. Recoverable until the quarter closes. |
Every activity, deliverable, and tool for this course will live on the Field Experience website: you'll submit there, track your own progress, and your teachers will see it there. The site is coming soon — we'll walk through it together and get everyone logged in as soon as it's ready. Until then, your teachers will tell you exactly how to turn each thing in.
Batavia High School · Field Experience (Work-Based Learning) · Michael Theriault & Austun Savitski
| Course Name | Field Experience (Work-Based Learning) |
| Teachers | Michael Theriault — michael.theriault@bps101.net Austun Savitski — austun.savitski@bps101.net |
| Course Description | A work-based learning course where students complete a minimum of 60 supervised hours of real professional work. Placement-track students earn those hours at a local business or organization aligned to one of seven career clusters. Enterprise-track students earn them operating their own business or working for a school enterprise. All students first complete a hands-on bootcamp covering professional identity, interview preparation, and workplace readiness. The course emphasizes the Illinois Essential Employability Skills, real-world application of classroom learning, and career exploration through direct workplace experience. |
| Required Materials | Laptop/Chromebook access for weekly logs and reflections; professional attire appropriate to your work; a fully signed Training Agreement on file before day one. Placement track: reliable transportation to and from your site. Enterprise track: a signed remote work agreement and a named client or advisor. |
| Prerequisite | Junior or Senior standing, teacher/counselor approval, and a completed application and interview process. |
| Website | Coming soon — bootcamp, weekly timesheet, weekly reflection, and your dashboard. Details in class once it's live. |
| Course Fee | None |
Essential Learnings / Units
- Phase 1 — Professional Identity & Course Launch
- Phase 2 — Interview Prep
- Phase 3 — Workplace Readiness
- Phase 4 — Launch
- The Work — a minimum of 60 supervised hours
- The Capstone — Elevator Pitch, Trade Show & Portfolio
Special Course Policies
A fully signed Training Agreement (student, parent/guardian, employer, and school coordinator) must be on file before your first day of work — no exceptions. Performance or conduct violations are addressed per the Training Agreement and may result in removal from the program.
Your weekly timesheet and reflection are due Sunday at 11:59 PM. If they are not submitted, you do not go to work that week until they are complete.
Placement track: not current, not on the schedule. You report to class and finish your timesheet and reflection instead of going to your site.
Enterprise track: not current, not remote. Working off campus is a privilege earned by being current. If you're behind, you report to class on your A day until you're caught up. Bulldog Media students also lose equipment and studio access until current.
This is not a rule invented for school. Every contractor, freelancer, and hourly employee gets paid by submitting their documentation on time.
If a transportation barrier or an IEP/504 accommodation affects your ability to submit, talk to your teacher. Those are handled as accommodations before the gate is ever applied — a ride that falls through is an attendance problem to solve, not a rule violation.
District & School Policies
| BPS Homework Policy | 6:290 — policy.bps101.net |
| BPS Grading Policy | 6:280 — policy.bps101.net |
| Academic Dishonesty | The standard BHS Academic Dishonesty Policy applies to all bootcamp deliverables, reflections, and capstone work. |
Learner Profile / BARK Chart
While you are graded on academic achievement, you and your family also receive feedback on classroom and workplace behaviors and responsibility. These behaviors are not directly graded, but constructive feedback should be given — both in the classroom and from your placement supervisor.
Extra Learning & Help Opportunities
Come in before or after school any time for help with bootcamp deliverables, resume feedback, interview practice, or capstone prep. Message your teacher to find a time that works for both of you.
Student Expectations for This Course
Treat your placement like a real job from day one — punctuality, professional conduct, and follow-through matter as much there as any grade does here. Complete your weekly timesheet and reflection on time every week. Communicate proactively with your teacher about scheduling conflicts, concerns, or problems at your placement. Don't wait until it's a crisis.
Characteristics of Successful Students in This Course
Reliable — shows up on time, every time. Communicates before being asked. Takes initiative instead of waiting for direction. Treats feedback as a tool, not criticism. Takes ownership of their own appearance and conduct.
Teacher Expectations for This Course
I will help you find and succeed in a placement that fits your interests, and prepare you to walk in on day one ready to perform like an employee, not a visitor. I'll challenge you to take this seriously — because employers, your supervisor, and your future self will.
Remediation Statement
A missed timesheet or reflection is entered as Incomplete and can be submitted late for partial credit any time before the quarter closes. An Incomplete still missing at quarter close becomes a zero — so nothing is unrecoverable until the term ends. Incomplete bootcamp deliverables can be resubmitted for credit. Workplace performance concerns are addressed through direct communication with your employer or advisor and a written improvement plan, per the Training Agreement — not through grade remediation alone.
Four categories, each worth 25%. One scale for everything. You should be able to explain your own grade in fifteen seconds — if you can't, ask.
The scale — used for every single graded item
Every graded item is worth 4 points. Your percentage is just the points you earned out of 4 — nothing is curved, rounded up, or translated.
"Meets" isn't a throwaway. It means you performed to the standard a paying employer expects, which is a real bar. But because every item is out of 4, a 3 comes out to 75% — so meeting the standard is not the same as an A. A 4 is for going beyond what was asked, and that's what moves your grade up.
The practical version: doing exactly what's required earns you a passing, unremarkable grade. Doing more than what's required is how you earn a strong one. That's also how raises and references work, which is the point.
"No Evidence" is not a 1. If nothing was submitted, it's entered as Incomplete — a 1 means the work was seen and fell well short, while Incomplete means nothing arrived yet. Incompletes can be turned in late for partial credit and only become zeros at the end of the quarter.
1. Bootcamp — 25%
Each of the 16 bootcamp activities is scored separately. Finished in the first few weeks of the course.
2. Weekly Tasks — 25%
Every week you submit a timesheet and a reflection, and each one gets its own score. "Week 1 Timesheet" and "Week 1 Reflection" are two different grades. Over a semester this is where most of your grades come from — which means consistency matters more than any single item.
| Item | What earns a 3, and what earns a 4 |
|---|---|
| Timesheet Scored 4 to 0 | 4 — submitted on time. 3 — late, but it showed up without anyone chasing you. Nobody had to email you. 2 — your teacher emailed you, and then you did it. 1 — your teacher emailed you and you still didn't do it until you were asked again. 0 — your teacher emailed you and it's still not done. You don't go to your placement until it is. |
| Reflection | 3 — answers every prompt with real content about your actual week. 4 — names something specific that happened and what you did about it. 2 — generic; could have been written about any week anywhere. |
Read it back and ask: could this have been written by someone who never went to my placement? If yes, it's a 2. Your reflections are also the raw material for your capstone pitch — the students who write real ones in September have something to say in December.
3. Capstone — 25%
Three separate scores, weighted equally — each worth about 8% of your final grade. Full details in Section 4.
| Elevator Pitch | A prepared 1:30 pitch on yourself and your experience, on the Black Box stage |
| Trade Show | Pop-up presentations at your station in the BFAC Lobby, plus how you handle follow-up questions |
| Portfolio | The artifacts you bring and how well you can account for them |
4. Employer Feedback — 25%
At minimum a midterm and a final evaluation from your supervisor, each scoring you on the 10 Illinois Essential Employability Skills.
With only two evaluations, each one is worth about 12% of your final grade — roughly the same as fifteen weekly reflections combined. The person filling it out sees you a few hours a week, and what they see is entirely up to you. Everything about how you show up — on time, phone away, asking for more work — ends up on that form.
Enterprise track: your evaluation comes from the Quarterly Review Board, where you present your work to a panel of adults, plus at least one client or advisor feedback form. Board dates: Oct 15 · Dec 16 · Mar 11, with the fourth folded into the May capstone.
If you fall behind — the escalation ladder
Applied the same way to everyone. The count resets each quarter.
| Miss | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1st | You complete the missing work during that day's block. No call home. Everyone has one bad week. |
| 2nd | The gate is enforced — no placement or no remote work that day — and an email goes home the same day. |
| 3rd | Phone call home, a written improvement plan signed by you and your guardian, and a two-week check-in. Your supervisor is informed, because at a real job this is where a manager would know. |
| 4th | A formal review meeting with you, your guardian, and your employer against the Training Agreement. Possible removal from the program. |
Half of this grade — Bootcamp and Weekly Tasks — is almost entirely within your control and comes down to doing the work on time. The other half depends on how you actually perform in front of adults who don't have to be impressed by you. Students who fail this course rarely fail because the work was too hard. They fail because they stopped submitting.
One afternoon at the end of the semester where your work becomes visible to the people who might hire, recommend, or mentor you next. 25% of your grade, in three parts. Everything in bootcamp builds toward this.
Part 1 — Elevator Pitch (1:30)
Where: the Black Box — the small stage in the Fine Arts Center. A real stage with a seated audience listening to you specifically.
A one minute thirty second pitch on yourself and your Field Experience. Live, timed, no notes on a phone — and fully prepared. There is no prompt to react to and no questions to field. Just your 90 seconds, done well.
Two things have to come through: why this experience mattered, and how it is shaping where you go next. Any honest answer works on that second one — including "I found out this field isn't for me," which takes more guts to say than a comfortable answer and is one of the most useful results this course produces.
A structure that works for the prepared 1:30
| ~15 sec | Who and where — your name, placement, and cluster. Fast, no wind-up. |
| ~30 sec | What you actually did — not your title. A specific project or responsibility you owned. Specific beats impressive. |
| ~30 sec | What you learned or how you grew — reference something real: a mistake, a skill that clicked, a moment you were wrong. This is the part people remember. |
| ~15 sec | What's next — where this points you. Close with confidence, not "yeah, that's it." |
The Pitch Prep Sheet walks you through prompts for each piece of the pitch, with room to draft and a worked example. Your teachers will hand it out. Broad strokes of what it asks you to think about:
- A challenge or setback you faced — and what you did about it
- A person at your placement who taught you something
- A time you were wrong, corrected, or surprised
- Advice for next year's student going into your placement
- How this changed your plans — or confirmed them
- A skill you didn't expect to need
You won't use all of it. Ninety seconds is about 200–230 words, so you'll use three or four of these answers at most. Work through all of them anyway — that's how you find your best material instead of settling for the first thing you thought of. Your weekly reflections are the raw material. That's what they've been for all along.
Part 2 — Trade Show (BFAC Lobby)
You staff a station in the BFAC Lobby. Guests circulate, and when someone stops you give them a 60–90 second walkthrough of your work, then take their follow-up questions. You'll do it over and over, for people who know nothing about your placement.
The skill being tested isn't public speaking — it's doing it well the tenth time, to someone who just walked up. What's scored: your pop-up presentation, how you handle questions, your station setup (scored before doors open), your professionalism, and whether you can adjust how you talk to a supervisor versus a sophomore versus an administrator.
- Every station needs a name placard (name, placement, cluster) readable from a few feet away, a resume, and your portfolio artifacts, labeled
- Set up completely before doors open, not while guests are walking in
- Professional dress — the same bar as your mock interview
- Staff your station the whole event. Phone away. Stand up when someone approaches
Part 3 — Portfolio
Your portfolio is what's on your station and what backs up your pitch. There is no required list of contents — and that's deliberate. A welding student and an accounting student shouldn't be handing in the same portfolio.
Instead of a checklist you get a standard: bring evidence of what you actually did, enough to show range, organized so a stranger understands it, and be able to explain every piece. How you meet that standard is your call.
The five questions your portfolio has to answer
- What did you actually do here? Not what the company does — what you made, fixed, wrote, built, or contributed to. The most common failure is a beautiful display about the organization with no evidence of you in it.
- Can you show more than one kind of thing? One artifact repeated four times isn't range.
- Can you prove you grew? A before-and-after is the most convincing artifact in any portfolio. Your first attempt next to your tenth.
- Would a stranger understand it without you? Label everything — one line each. While you talk to one guest, two more are reading your table.
- Are you allowed to show it? Ask your supervisor early, not the week of.
This is the most important sentence in this section. You cannot build this at the end. The photo you didn't take, the draft you didn't save, the project thrown out in October — those are gone. Spend five minutes every Friday saving something from that week, even if you're not sure you'll use it. Students who do this have too much to choose from. Students who don't spend the last week apologizing for an empty table.
Patient names or health information. Client financials. Student records. Anything under a non-disclosure agreement. Anyone's personal information visible in the background of a photo. None of it goes in your portfolio — not blurred, not "just one page," not "nobody will recognize them." Including it is an automatic 1 on professionalism and the item is removed.
When unsure, the answer is always the same: ask your supervisor first. Nobody has ever gotten in trouble for asking. And you can almost always document the work without the data — a blank version of the form, a screenshot with fields emptied, a photo of your hands and the equipment instead of the screen.
What doesn't count
The syllabus, your timesheet, blank course handouts, a photo of the company sign, the company's own brochures, or a generic "what I learned" paragraph with no artifact attached. Your resume, pitch video, and skills assessment do belong at your station — just don't let them be the portfolio.
The Portfolio Guide has concrete artifact ideas for all seven career clusters — what works in health sciences versus IT versus the trades — plus the full scoring rubric. Ask for a copy and read it in your first two weeks at your placement.
If your placement makes documentation genuinely hard — some workplaces say no to photos, copies, and taking anything home — that's a real situation and it's solvable, but only if you raise it in October instead of December.
Work-Based Learning: Field Experience. The agreement between you, your parent/guardian, your employer, and the District. All four signatures must be on file before your first day at your placement. Read it before you sign it — every line is a real obligation.
Purpose
This agreement establishes expectations, responsibilities, and conditions for student participation in District-approved Work-Based Learning: Field Experience. The program is intended to support career exploration, skill development, and application of classroom learning in a supervised workplace setting.
Field Experience Information
| Student Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| School | Batavia High School |
| Age | |
| Employer / Organization Information | |
|---|---|
| Employer / Organization | |
| Supervisor Name | |
| Supervisor Title | |
| Supervisor Email | |
| Worksite Address | |
| Start Date | |
| End Date | |
| Paid Position? | |
| Pay Rate | |
Student Responsibilities
The student agrees to:
- Maintain regular attendance at school and the Field Experience. Students must attend school on days they report to their Field Experience. Documented absences (e.g., appointments) may be approved by the Field Experience Coordinator.
- Notify both the Field Experience Coordinator and the employer in advance of any absence or schedule change.
- Provide their own transportation unless otherwise arranged.
- Comply with all District policies (bps101.net/policies), including conduct, attendance, and academic expectations.
- Comply with all employer policies, including workplace confidentiality, honesty, conduct, dress, safety, and attendance.
- Demonstrate appropriate employability skills, including punctuality, reliability, professional communication, and respect for workplace expectations.
- Maintain satisfactory academic standing. Failure to do so may result in loss of privileges, suspension, or removal from the program.
- Complete all required coursework, documentation, and reflections associated with the Field Experience course.
- Report concerns, safety issues, or conflicts promptly to the Field Experience Coordinator.
- Remain enrolled at BHS and in the Field Experience course; withdrawal from either will result in termination of the placement.
- Remain with the assigned employer for the duration of the placement. Failure to complete the placement due to performance may result in removal from the program and a failing grade.
- Complete a minimum of 60 hours of workplace experience and continue participation through the end of the academic period.
The District may remove a student from Field Experience at its discretion based on academic, behavioral, or safety concerns.
Parent / Guardian Responsibilities
The parent/guardian agrees to:
- Support the student’s compliance with BHS, Field Experience, and site placement expectations.
- Ensure reliable transportation to and from the Field Experience placement.
- Maintain required health and accident insurance coverage for the student.
- Acknowledge that the District does not provide insurance coverage for student injuries or losses associated with participation in the Field Experience, including travel to and from the placement.
- Communicate with the Field Experience Coordinator regarding any concerns affecting participation.
Employer Responsibilities
The employer agrees to:
- Provide a supervised, lawful, and safe work environment.
- Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, including child labor laws.
- Designate a supervisor responsible for direct oversight of the student.
- Provide meaningful work-based learning experiences aligned to the student’s career interests when feasible.
- Ensure the student does not remain in any single task or phase beyond its educational value.
- Ensure the student does not engage in prohibited or hazardous activities as defined by law.
- Communicate with the Field Experience Coordinator regarding performance concerns, safety issues, or termination, and allow time for consultation during site visits.
- Provide feedback on student performance as requested by the Field Experience Coordinator.
The employer retains full authority over workplace expectations and may terminate the Field Experience placement at any time.
District Responsibilities
The District agrees to:
- Approve Field Experience placements consistent with District guidelines and student eligibility.
- Provide a coordinator to oversee the program and serve as the primary point of contact.
- Monitor student progress and maintain communication with the employer and student.
- Remove a student from placement if participation no longer aligns with District expectations or safety standards.
- Work with the employer to develop a description that accurately reflects the workplace experience, including tasks, projects, and deliverables.
Conditions of Participation
- Participation is a privilege, not a right, and may be revoked at any time.
- This agreement does not create an employment contract or guarantee continued placement.
- The student’s status is governed by both school rules and employer expectations.
- The employer retains sole authority over employment matters, including supervision, discipline, and termination.
- The District is not the employer but retains authority over program participation and may remove or reassign a student based on academic, behavioral, or safety considerations.
- The employer will notify the Field Experience Coordinator of employment actions affecting the placement; the District will coordinate next steps with the student.
Risk Acknowledgment and Reporting
- Field Experience placements typically occur in third-party workplaces that are not owned, operated, or controlled by the District.
- While the District reviews placements for general safety and legal compliance, it cannot monitor all conditions or foresee all risks that may arise in a workplace environment.
- Workplace risks may include, but are not limited to, injury, inappropriate conduct, harassment (including sexual harassment), discrimination, or other behavior inconsistent with District expectations.
- The employer is responsible for maintaining a safe, lawful workplace and for enforcing its own policies, including those related to harassment and nondiscrimination.
- The student must report any safety concern, inappropriate conduct, or policy violation immediately to both the employer and the Field Experience Coordinator.
- The parent/guardian must notify the Field Experience Coordinator promptly of any concerns affecting the student’s safety or participation.
- The District will respond to reported concerns, which may include investigation, coordination with the employer, reassignment, or removal from the placement.
- Participation is voluntary; a student may pause or discontinue participation due to safety concerns without penalty while the District reviews the situation.
Non-Discrimination
All parties agree to comply with applicable federal and state non-discrimination laws.
Driving Acknowledgment (if applicable)
If the student drives to the Field Experience placement, the parent/guardian assumes responsibility for transportation decisions. The student is not required to travel in unsafe conditions and must communicate with the employer and District if conditions prevent travel.
Students are responsible for securing a BHS parking spot via the official process. If released school time does not match internship hours, the student may return home but remains responsible for meeting all hour requirements.
- Your hours must be real. A minimum of 60, verifiable by your supervisor. Falsifying a timesheet isn’t a grading issue — it’s the fastest way out of the program.
- Confidentiality follows you home — including social media, group chats, and telling a friend a funny story with a name attached.
- You may stop and call. If something is unsafe or inappropriate, you can pause participation without penalty while it is reviewed. Report it to your employer and the Coordinator immediately — not next week.
Agreement
By signing below, all parties acknowledge and accept the terms of this agreement.
Handbook acknowledgment
By signing above, the student and parent/guardian also confirm they have read this handbook — the syllabus, the grading policy including the documentation gate and escalation ladder, and the capstone requirements.
Questions or concerns you want to raise now
Your grade
| Category | Weight | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| Bootcamp | 25% | 16 activity scores, front of the course |
| Weekly Tasks | 25% | Timesheet + reflection, each scored, every week |
| Capstone | 25% | Elevator pitch · trade show · portfolio |
| Employer Feedback | 25% | Midterm + final, 10 employability skills each |
The scale
Every item is scored out of 4, and the gradebook turns that into a true percent: 4 = 100% · 3.5 = 87.5% · 3 = 75% · 2 = 50% · 1 = 25% · INC nothing submitted, recoverable until the quarter closes
Every week, without being reminded
- Log your hours as you go — not from memory on Sunday night
- Submit your timesheet and reflection by Sunday 11:59 PM
- Save one artifact from the week for your portfolio, even if you're unsure about it
- Tell your teacher early about any conflict, concern, or problem at your site
Not current, not on the schedule (Placement) · Not current, not remote (Enterprise)
Timesheet and reflection in by Sunday 11:59 PM, or you don't go to work that week until they're done.
Dates to put in your phone right now
| Thu Aug 13 | First day — bootcamp begins |
| Mon Aug 31 | First day at placement (Placement track) |
| Week of Oct 12 | Midterm employer evaluation |
| Fri Oct 16 | Term 1 ends — Incompletes become zeros |
| Tue Dec 15 tentative | Capstone — Black Box stage + BFAC Lobby (Placement track). Date is tentative — confirm before you make plans around it. |
| Oct 15 · Dec 16 · Mar 11 | Quarterly Review Boards (Enterprise track) |
| Week of May 10 | Capstone (Enterprise track) |
Course website — coming soon. It will hold your bootcamp activities, weekly timesheet, weekly reflection, the 10 employability skills, capstone details, the portfolio guide, and your progress dashboard. We'll get everyone logged in as soon as it's live. Until then, ask us — nothing you need is ever more than a question away.
Michael Theriault — michael.theriault@bps101.net
Austun Savitski — austun.savitski@bps101.net
Come find either of us before or after school any time. The students who ask questions early are the ones this goes well for.