By Adelaide Maloney ’22
Soon, Beverly High’s seniors will disappear from the halls. Though graduation and the end of the school year are still several months away, the class of 2022 will finish their classes on April 14th. This is due to BHS’ REACH program, where students spend the second half of April and the entirety of May focusing on one singular assignment. For four weeks, they will either focus on internships or on projects.
Those doing internships are typically in collaboration with local businesses. Every day, they work in these establishments and learn about how they run. This can focus on anything: relationships with customers, book balancing, or more general logistics. Students are encouraged to focus on fields that interest them and potential future careers. Through this assignment, students are able to learn more about various types of work and about the business world more widely.
By contrast, projects are entirely student led. Either working individually or in groups, seniors design them entirely on their own—from concepts to timelines. While teachers do advise the projects, they are largely self-led. This, like the internship, provides a unique opportunity. BHS students are able to develop their work ethic and learn how to effectively organize larger-scale projects. Whether the individual project succeeds or fails fully relies on how well students are able to hone these skills.
After the four weeks of active work on REACH, students will return to school to present the outcomes of their internships and projects. They will discuss what they achieved and learned as well as how it will help them in the future. On May 27, these evaluations will all be shown in BHS’ annual REACH Fair.
Until that fair, though, the class of 2022 will be working and learning in accordance with their respective assignments.
