Senior Internship Project
The Senior Internship Project and Senior Teen Action Program (Senior SIP/TAP) is Prep’s signature capstone experience, designed by students at the end of their junior year.
Through a self-crafted guiding question, seniors spend more than 120 hours examining the complexities of their chosen topic — serving with a nonprofit organization in the Santa Fe community and contributing to a cause about which they care deeply via TAP and gaining hands-on exposure to and experience in a professional field that interests them via SIP.
Rising seniors first pitch their plans to a committee of faculty advisors, refining ideas through feedback. Beginning the summer before senior year and continuing through the following May, students engage directly with their chosen partner organizations. Along the way, they document their experiences, reflect on their learning, and develop insights pertaining to their guiding question. The journey culminates each May at the SIP/TAP Showcase, with seniors presenting their work to classmates, families, faculty, and community partners.
Through the Senior SIP/TAP program, students connect their education to real-world impact — engaging meaningfully with their community, exploring possible futures, and putting their skills, curiosity, and values into action.
I did my Senior Internship with the Institute for Applied Ecology helping with research and seed collection as well as the Backcountry Horseman Gila chapter doing trail restoration. My guiding question for my internship, 'How should we as people interact with our environment and the ecosystem that surround us,' led me to the conclusion that we have an obligaton to amend some of the damage we have done to the environment through restoring native ecosystems, and caring about nature on a personal level. My SIP experience helped me understand how applied science works outside of the classroom."
Clara Hastings '25