Congratulations on your acceptance into the inaugural W.I.S.E. program at WJPS! With the Wise Individualized Senior Experience, you will be immersed in a custom-tailored program that plays upon your interests and passions, teaches you valuable skills, allows you to learn through hands-on-experiences and internships, and sets a clear path for you during your senior year of high school and into your independent adult life.
As the WJPS W.I.S.E. Coordinator, I am honored to guide you in this journey. I will introduce you to the intricacies of the program, share with you valuable research and communications skills, and help connect you with professionals who are prepared to provide you with life and career skills and lessons you will utilize for years to come.
You will receive a great deal of support and encouragement from the WJPS community. Each week of Term 1, I will meet with the entire W.I.S.E. group as well as offer “office hours” for one-to-one meetings. You will learn more about the program, determine your interests, explore possible internship opportunities, read and discuss articles, watch and discuss videos, conduct extensive research, interview experts, reach out to existing and potential professional connections, and much more.
Throughout Term 1 you will also record your thoughts, questions, and reflections in a WISE journal, and you will receive feedback from other members of the group as well as from me. It is also my hope that we can connect with other W.I.S.E. chapters, and discuss our challenges and successes with fellow high school students. I would like us to engage with experts through Skype, school visits, and trips when applicable. You are the first WJPS W.I.S.E. participants, and together, you will design and build this program for yourselves and as well as for future WJPS seniors.
In this pivotal time, you will also secure an adult mentor. This person, who can range from a teacher to a guidance counselor to an office staff member to a school safety agent, will work with you one-on-one, provide additional guidance by meeting with you a minimum of once per week, reviewing your journal, answering your questions, providing you with insight and advice, and much more. Start to think of a staff member who is skilled and/or knows a good deal about your areas of interest. It’s important to choose someone with whom you feel comfortable, is approachable, and is able to support you in this intensive experience.
In Term 1, you will be reading a shared text. Dr. Werner has generously bought each of you your own copy of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. You can read more about it here. We will be using the important lessons from this text as the basis for group conversations and journal entries.
Your journal will be an integral component of your W.I.S.E. journal in Term 2, as well. During this time, you will record your thoughts as you “work in the field” when you shadow or intern with a professional in your area of interest. Please make sure you have your own journal by the end of the first week of school. It should be sturdy and contain lots of lined pages. If you want to buy a plain-cover journal we can spend some W.I.S.E. meeting time personalizing it.
W.I.S.E. is a yearlong commitment. You will be working in school and out of school, during the week and on weekends. It’s a lot of work and it will be well worth it in the end. The program culminates with a formal presentation and evaluation of your yearlong journey. You will plan your presentation, design and send out invitations to faculty members, students, and friends of your choice, and share your unique W.I.S.E. expedition through oral presentation, images, videos, and other formats. Your presentation will be evaluated by a panel of peers and adults, who will provide you with further feedback and guidance. You will set the standards for future WJPS W.I.S.E. groups.
In the first week of school, you will receive a W.I.S.E. syllabus that will give you an idea of how the year will flow. In the meantime, secure these supplies and bring them to our first W.I.S.E. meeting (date to be announced when school begins):
- Sturdy, lined journal
- Interview notebook
- Planning calendar
Before school begins, you may also want to reach out to a staff member by email and tell them you are considering asking them to be your mentor. In the meantime, please e-mail me at shari.marks@wjps.org with questions/suggestions/concerns. I look forward to a groundbreaking 2017-2018 school year!
See you in September,
Mrs. Marks
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