Div 3 Seminars
About
Juniors and seniors at Four Rivers have seminars in their schedule to faciliate post-secondary planning and completion of their junior and senior projects. Junior and Senior Seminars are taught by our College and Career Coach.
In Junior Seminar, juniors engage in self-analysis and reflection while taking career inventories and researching possible paths after high school. They prepare for the SATs and begin building college lists while also learning about the undergraduate admissions process. All juniors plan for a spring internship as a culminating part of their year.
In Senior Seminar, seniors refine their college lists, complete applications, and finalize post-secondary plans. They also learn “adulting” skills in a curriculum driven by student questions and interest; topics range from self-advocacy to budgeting. All seniors complete a Senior Expedition as part of their final year at Four Rivers.
Junior Internship
All juniors complete one-week 20-hour internships with a local mentor in a career field of their choice.
Past internships cover a broad range of fields. Students have worked in the UMass Amherst polymer research lab and alongside neuroscientists at Smith College; they’ve hung lights and sewn costumes for theater professionals and repaired computers for local technology offices. Juniors have partnered with bakers, auto mechanics, journalists, sound engineers, and small business owners. They’ve joined surgeons in the operating rooms, supported midwives and OBGYN practitioners with births, and collaborated with mental health outreach programs. They’ve been glassblowers, carpenters, architects, teachers, farmers…the list continues!
Junior internship is an opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience of what it means to work in a particular field. And, at the same time, it’s also an opportunity for an adult to share their expertise with an engaged young person.
After internships complete, juniors present about their experience to the school community.
Senior Expedition
Senior Expedition is a year-long capstone project where students delve deeply into a subject of interest and create a culminating product to showcase their learning.
Senior Expedition is an invitation to each senior to study something they genuinely are interested in learning, something they care to know or be able to do.
This project is about learning through one’s interests and building skills as an independent learner. With guidance from teachers and mentors, each student shows their ability to generate ideas, conduct research, solve problems, organize time and resources, persevere through challenges, communicate well, and reflect on their efforts.
Seniors generate ideas, draft a proposal for their expedition, research their topic, and then refine their proposal. Then they spend at least 30 hours creating a high-quality final product, which they will present to the school at their Graduation Passage.