Field Work: Contact / Plan

EXPERIENTIAL RESOURCE NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS

You've heard throughout the year, connecting with your learning to the world is essential to the design process. One way to do that is to connect more with organizations and individuals working in the field that your Midstone is focused. This is a great way to enhance your work by giving it stronger connections to the real world and finding that nuanced inspiration. There is also expertise, knowledge, or experiences you can only get by this active learning. Reaching out to experts is also a skill for you to work on this year. 

Step 1: Identify an organization or individual you want to contact.

This may take some digging around on websites or personal networking to get contact info. You might also find possible contacts in the research. It is best here to "cast a wide net" -- you want to reach out to 2-3 contacts to see what comes back. Just be sure they are at different organizations. 

Step 2: Craft a communication. 

Typically this is done via email. Here is a simple format to follow.

• • • Greet them: "Good morning/afternoon [insert name]
    • Introduce yourself: "I'm a student in the Evolutions program Wellesley High School. Currently I am working on an independent project. In my research I came across you / your organization and am curious to learn more"
    • Explain why you are interested in this topic: connect to your "why" -- less about the project more about you
    • Ask for what you want - typically this is to set up a time to talk to learn more about who they are, what they do, and how they are connected to your "why". You ARE NOT asking them to work on your project! You ARE asking to get more first-hand knowledge about your "topic" that can help inspire your work. The easiest ask is to setup a 30 min virutal meeting (GoogleMeet or Zoom) to be able to talk to them. 
    • Give a day/time that you hope for a response by: "It would be great to hear back from you if you are interested and available by ..." Remember the deadline for completing the Field Work is Friday 1/10
    • Salutation: "Sincerely, [your first and last name and/or team member names]
    • **Always good here to have a teacher skim your draft before sending**

Use this template to upload evidence to this assignment:

• If you are planning an experience then on the document you need to write down the date, time and location of the experience.  Include a picture of the ticket if you have to purchase a ticket.

Assessment

• Looking at the quality/relevance of who you identify to reach out to
• Looking at the persistence / wide net of who you reach out to
• Looking at the quality of how you reach out to them