Discovery is a five-day, 40-hour apprenticeship required of all students at OES. It is an opportunity for students to explore a particular area of interest, to experience the demands and structure of the “working world,” and to learn, through a guided process, to create their own educational experiences outside the classroom.

Students are directly responsible for developing their own apprenticeships. They must identify a sponsor within a host organization, create a working agreement with a sponsor, complete an evaluation with their sponsor, and write a five-page paper about their experience. All apprenticeships must be approved in advance by Wendy Steele, Discovery Coordinator.

While most students choose to do their Discovery apprenticeship during Winterim of their senior year, students may apply to do Discovery earlier any time until their Senior year Winterim. Only those underclassmen who have completed and submitted the required application paperwork by Friday, November 19, will be considered. At that time the Discovery Coordinator will review their proposal and will either approve their plans or deny each request until a later year. In the case of denial, the underclassmen involved will register for Winterim during the regular time, between 8 a.m. Monday, November 29, and 3 p.m. Friday, December 3.

A student must complete one Discovery before graduation but may not do more than two during the Winterim week. This rule ensures that each student will have AT LEAST two group Winterim experiences. A student may also choose to complete Discovery during the summer thereby ensuring that each may take full advantage of the Winterim course offerings each year. In this case, approval from the Discovery Coordinator must be arranged at least two weeks prior to the start of the Discovery.

Leader: Wendy Steele
Time Block: All day
Enrollment: subject to approval
Cost: incidental expenses