CPA Internships
Our emphasis on community service partnerships addresses the demand for academic relevance. Students constantly ask why certain courses are necessary? They insist they need motivation to achieve. By classroom integration of work experiences in community organizations, institutions and businesses, we have been able to direct our students towards an answer, and at the same time develop a symbiotic relationship between the student and their communities. For instance, being part of a Children's Hospital team that analyses cancer cells gives new meaning to a difficult Advanced Biology course. Internships also give students an extra dimension with respect to their education - practical experience in a possible profession. This type of pre-college nutured learning environment will help develop their analytical, technical and leadership skills for the university and ultimately, the working world.
Students are generally required to choose an internship at the beginning of their junior year in CPA. Some students start as early as sophmore year, and a few even begin as freshman (however, this is rare). Each student is encouraged to consider possible situations of interest, and then based on availability, an internship is decided on by mutual consent of all involved - the business, institution or organzation; the student and CPA staff. It is a very flexible process, however, the student must finalize it by signing up for junior year courses, Introduction to Community Service Professions I and II. There are many internships available. It is a dynamic situation where new companies, organizations and institutions continue to partner with us. Take a look at our 2004/2005 Intern Summary List. Below is a sample:
Children's Hospital
City of Berkeley
BUSD
McCullum Youth Court
MPR Associates, Inc.
As an example, please view the interesting results of one such partnership - MPR Associates, Inc, a local education research company and our freshman class. The company help the students develop, conduct, and analyze a survey on diversity, ethnicity and culture at Berkeley High School. The survey was then presented to the Berkeley City Council as well as the BUSD School Board. The students applied academically simple technical research tools (such as the mathematical concept of percents) to effectively achieve important results. Please take a look, but be forewarned if you are on a dial-up modem, its about 30 pages so you might have to wait a minute or two to download it!