They can be paid or unpaid. Work experience also includes registered youth apprenticeships. Employers help design activities for short-term work experiences. For extensive work-based learning, employers help design a learning plan based on industry standards. They sign a training agreement which describes what the student is to do, including outcomes and the roles and responsibilities of the employer, student and school.
Employers supervise students, provide opportunities for real work, and evaluate student performance.
One project featuring a unique work experience component is the Vocational Mentoring program for at-risk students at Grant High School. Legacy donates a classroom to this program, where juniors and seniors spend a half of every school day on-site at Good Samaritan Hospital. Ms. Parsons explains that students in her area gain experience helping nurses in labor and delivery, working with tissue care, working at the desk, and more. She is graduating in May of 1997 and plans to attend Mt. Hood Community College to study nursing. Students participating in the Vocational Mentoring program are at-risk of dropping out of school.