Instead of a free period, high school senior Maya LaVallee puts on scrubs and observes health care professionals at work.

She’s been spending time off campus at Maine Medical Center and InterMed for the past year and a half pursuing her passion: helping people. Only 17, she’s pretty sure she wants to be a pediatrician.

“I love babysitting, and I’ve always wanted to do something medical,” she said. She’s been participating in an extended learning opportunity, mostly “standing in the corner, getting out of the way and just observing.”

When doctors aren’t in the middle of responding to an emergency, they explain their processes. She’s trying to turn her shadowing into an internship.

LaVallee is one of many Cape Elizabeth students participating in real-world learning experiences beyond the classroom.

The school district is hoping to build on opportunities for hands-on community-based learning through the creation of a Greater Cape School and Community Alliance.

This new group, convening for the first time on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 a.m. at the fire station and multiple other times throughout the school year, will be a forum for local business and nonprofit leaders to meet with school staff to brainstorm new ways to connect the community and the classroom.

“Sometimes I think businesses and parents aren’t quite sure how to get involved, so this will be a guided way for people to better understand and share their ideas and see if there are specific ways that people can get involved,” said Sarah Coombs, student pathways coordinator.

Already, the school compiles a community database each year of residents willing to work with the schools at a variety of capacities including hosting an intern, speaking in front of a classroom or helping a student with an interview.

This group will be more concentrated, discussing what skills students need to be successful when entering the workforce and brainstorming ways local businesses and organizations can support that learning process. And Superintendent Chris Record hopes they can reach people who may have not been as directly connected to the school, including people from the Greater Portland area.

Already, there are about 20 people signed up.

“It’s a start of a conversation about different partnership ideas and opportunities and how that might work,” Coombs said.

At the same time, the group will build upon the existing community-based learning in Cape schools.

Many high school students already participate in internships through the three-year-old Pathways program, working in physical therapy practices, veterinary offices, interior design firms and hairdressing studios. The Pathways Program, part of the school department’s strategic plan, focuses on providing learning opportunities tailored to individual needs and interests as well as supporting many career paths students may pursue.

For Cape Elizabeth students, exposure to real-world learning begins in middle school. Students can opt for electives that engage with a special interest, and Coombs said there was one group that looked into future careers and connected with professionals. Another group learned how to crochet and knit.

Middle and high schoolers who participate in extended learning opportunities have to connect with at least one professional in the field when completing their projects, whether that’s an interview or a shadowing experience. Coombs said that some students have reached out to the Sea Dogs to learn more about that line of work. Other students have interviewed video game creators. Students interested in healthcare, like LaVallee, have shadowed doctors.

“This effort will just hopefully bolster these connections even more,” Coombs said. “This could lead to students gaining employment at these businesses or organizations in the future.”

Record agreed, hoping it will encourage students to want to return to Maine to work after they graduate.

“We’re all wanting to provide the best opportunities for students going forward … to get them prepared for whatever they choose for their life, their career,” Record said.