B-CC Business Partnership Program

Learning through Involvement Beyond the Classroom

STAFF
Mrs. Diana Kirtley
240-497-6328
Fax: 240-497-6396

Internship Program
Career Day/Career Partnership Day
Cynthia Clarke Career Builder Awards
Guest Lecturers/Career Awareness Seminars
New Program Ideas

Interaction with the larger community is an integral component of the education process at B-CC. The Partnership Program is based on the assumption that education cannot exist in a vacuum – public education is of the community and for the community. The goal of the program is to have every student involved in at least one of the activities that have a career focus. To this end, it is hoped that our students will graduate from B-CC with a clear idea of their career and education goals.

B-CC’s Partnership Program includes numerous businesses, professional firms, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Many programs enrich the school:

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Exploring career goals and introducing students to the demands of the work world are the major interests of the internship program. Students have the opportunity to work among adults and learn, first-hand, the rigor of the work place while, at the same time, pursing their interests. Approximately 50 students participate in the internship program each semester. The intern sponsor is asked to:

• Provide daily supervision or designate someone to do so
• Verify student attendance on the time sheets provided
• Evaluate the student’s performance at the end of each 9-week marking period

CAREER DAY/CAREER PARTNERSHIP DAY

Career Day/Career Partnership Day takes place in March or April and is sponsored by the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 200 11th and 12th grade students from B-CC, Walt Whitman, and Walter Johnson High Schools are matched with local businesses and spend a day “shadowing” a person in the business world. The event provides students the opportunity to “try-out” a prospective career interest.

2008 Career Partnership Day – March 13, 2008

2007 Career Partnership Day – March 8, 2007

2006 Career Partnership Day – March 22, 2006

2005 Career Partnership Day – March 10, 2005

2004 Career Day

CYNTHIA CLARKE CAREER BUILDER AWARDS

Each year on Career Partnership Day (or, in intervening years, on Career Day) special thanks and recognition is given to those individuals, businesses, and organizations who have demonstrated “long-term commitment and dedication” to the program. The Cynthia Clarke Career Builder Award is given annually in memory of Cynthia Clarke, former B-CC math teacher and internship coordinator, who founded Career Partnership Day in 1992.
2003 Award Winners   2004 Award Winners   2005 Award Winners   2006 Award Winners

GUEST LECTURERS/CAREER AWARENESS SEMINARS

Outside speakers are welcomed at B-CC. Representatives of such organizations as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Library of Medicine, Chevy Chase Bank, and the Marriott Corporation have given career awareness seminars for B-CC interns. In addition, other speakers, such as Congressman Chris Van Hollen, have addressed individual classes in subject areas including social studies, mathematics, English, and music.

NEW PROGRAM IDEAS

To discuss the possibility of forming a new program that may be unique to your business or organization, please contact Mrs. Kirtley.