Students Begin Career Planning In High School
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Students Begin Career Planning In High School
By David [email protected]
Sandy Carmichael teaches "Orientation to Life & Careers" at WCHS. Next year, the course title changes to "Planning for College & Careers". She said the state updated the class and course title to better fit the state's vision of what they wanted to see in the course. Carmichael said, at WCHS, they've been doing what the state wants to see for the past five years already.
"This course gives students a chance to learn about themselves, their lifestyle, personality, values, interests, skills and goals," Carmichael said. "They explore careers based on what they learn about themselves. Small group and project-based activities are used to teach essential skills necessary for success in school and in a career. These skills include career and life management, thinking and problem solving, leadership and collaboration, information literacy and communication."
The 18-week course, required for all freshmen, is in its sixth year. The course is very hands-on. Students learn everything from producing presentations and resumes to answering questions for job interviews.
Mock job interviews account for half of the final exam in the "Career Planning" class at Tippecanoe Valley. Classes are taught by Ben Rogers and Darren Parker.
"We're trying to make a real, big connection between businesses and school," said Rogers. "All of us here feel the community connection is an important part of the kids' education."
Rogers said the class has been focusing on soft skills a lot this year because that is what business leaders have told Valley that is what students need to learn.
"It's a really neat process," Rogers said of the mock interviews. "Every single freshman has to go through it."
Before the interviews, students are taught how to walk, talk and dress for a job interview.
Parker said they had 28 job interview stations this year. Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education and intern students acted as the interviewers.
Freshmen interviewed for jobs in therapeutic services, construction, education, law, manufacturing, sales and marketing, visual arts, agriculture and journalism and broadcasting.
Each ICE/intern student usually has a group of five or six students to interview, then they select the best candidate, Parker said. The freshman who is chosen for the job gets extra credit.
"The biggest thing is getting them aware of how important the soft skills are. Unfortunately, this generation lacks those," Rogers said.
Parker said many of the students, including those well prepared, get nervous and forget things like sitting straight during the interview.
The job interviews were Dec. 9. Parker said 160 students took part.
Carmichael said that when they first began offering "Life & Careers", parents had questions about whether or not their student should be in the class. After learning more, parents say they wish they had such a class when they were in school.
Some students in her classes have definite ideas of what kind of career they want, but most students change their mind in high school. Carmichael said if a student changes their mind, the class gives them the tools and skills to know where to look for more information about the career and courses to take to get there. The class is not about deciding on a career, she said, but giving students the skills to revise their plan.
Carmichael said, in her class, students explore and examine career choices by discovering personal aptitudes, interests, goals and lifestyle. The course includes investigating the 16 national career clusters and Indiana's College and Career Pathways.
Each student develops an individual four-year career/college plan specifically designed to meet his or her goals.
Students explore ways to get a post-secondary education. Often, Carmichael said, people have in their minds that a post-secondary education means a four-year college, but there are different possibilities. The course lets students learn more about those.
"I feel that this course has empowered our students to know and understand themselves better. They leave the class armed with a plan for their high school career, an idea about how they will transition into the post-secondary education that they are best suited to and the skills necessary to be successful," Carmichael said.
"I feel like its helped out a bunch," freshman Mariah Armey said of the course. "It's probably the most helpful class in school and everyone should take it."
Armey said she's learned about everything from managing money to what she wants to be when she's older.
"I'd like to be a dental hygienist. I had an idea, but this class helped me develop a four-year plan," Armey said.
"It helped me choose a career pathway in what I really want to do in life," said freshman Bryce Smith. "It helped me choose what college I would like to attend."
The course showed him lots of jobs out there where he could apply his skills.
"Warsaw is blessed in the career and technical areas," Carmichael said. "There are so many opportunities for students to gain skills in an area of interest. This class helps us explain all of that."
For the 2011-12 school year, Warsaw Schools will offer a "Exploring College & Careers" course for all eighth-grade students. It is an introduction to the high school class. In addition to a thorough introduction to the 16 national career clusters, financial literacy will be taught.
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Sandy Carmichael teaches "Orientation to Life & Careers" at WCHS. Next year, the course title changes to "Planning for College & Careers". She said the state updated the class and course title to better fit the state's vision of what they wanted to see in the course. Carmichael said, at WCHS, they've been doing what the state wants to see for the past five years already.
"This course gives students a chance to learn about themselves, their lifestyle, personality, values, interests, skills and goals," Carmichael said. "They explore careers based on what they learn about themselves. Small group and project-based activities are used to teach essential skills necessary for success in school and in a career. These skills include career and life management, thinking and problem solving, leadership and collaboration, information literacy and communication."
The 18-week course, required for all freshmen, is in its sixth year. The course is very hands-on. Students learn everything from producing presentations and resumes to answering questions for job interviews.
Mock job interviews account for half of the final exam in the "Career Planning" class at Tippecanoe Valley. Classes are taught by Ben Rogers and Darren Parker.
"We're trying to make a real, big connection between businesses and school," said Rogers. "All of us here feel the community connection is an important part of the kids' education."
Rogers said the class has been focusing on soft skills a lot this year because that is what business leaders have told Valley that is what students need to learn.
"It's a really neat process," Rogers said of the mock interviews. "Every single freshman has to go through it."
Before the interviews, students are taught how to walk, talk and dress for a job interview.
Parker said they had 28 job interview stations this year. Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education and intern students acted as the interviewers.
Freshmen interviewed for jobs in therapeutic services, construction, education, law, manufacturing, sales and marketing, visual arts, agriculture and journalism and broadcasting.
Each ICE/intern student usually has a group of five or six students to interview, then they select the best candidate, Parker said. The freshman who is chosen for the job gets extra credit.
"The biggest thing is getting them aware of how important the soft skills are. Unfortunately, this generation lacks those," Rogers said.
Parker said many of the students, including those well prepared, get nervous and forget things like sitting straight during the interview.
The job interviews were Dec. 9. Parker said 160 students took part.
Carmichael said that when they first began offering "Life & Careers", parents had questions about whether or not their student should be in the class. After learning more, parents say they wish they had such a class when they were in school.
Some students in her classes have definite ideas of what kind of career they want, but most students change their mind in high school. Carmichael said if a student changes their mind, the class gives them the tools and skills to know where to look for more information about the career and courses to take to get there. The class is not about deciding on a career, she said, but giving students the skills to revise their plan.
Carmichael said, in her class, students explore and examine career choices by discovering personal aptitudes, interests, goals and lifestyle. The course includes investigating the 16 national career clusters and Indiana's College and Career Pathways.
Each student develops an individual four-year career/college plan specifically designed to meet his or her goals.
Students explore ways to get a post-secondary education. Often, Carmichael said, people have in their minds that a post-secondary education means a four-year college, but there are different possibilities. The course lets students learn more about those.
"I feel that this course has empowered our students to know and understand themselves better. They leave the class armed with a plan for their high school career, an idea about how they will transition into the post-secondary education that they are best suited to and the skills necessary to be successful," Carmichael said.
"I feel like its helped out a bunch," freshman Mariah Armey said of the course. "It's probably the most helpful class in school and everyone should take it."
Armey said she's learned about everything from managing money to what she wants to be when she's older.
"I'd like to be a dental hygienist. I had an idea, but this class helped me develop a four-year plan," Armey said.
"It helped me choose a career pathway in what I really want to do in life," said freshman Bryce Smith. "It helped me choose what college I would like to attend."
The course showed him lots of jobs out there where he could apply his skills.
"Warsaw is blessed in the career and technical areas," Carmichael said. "There are so many opportunities for students to gain skills in an area of interest. This class helps us explain all of that."
For the 2011-12 school year, Warsaw Schools will offer a "Exploring College & Careers" course for all eighth-grade students. It is an introduction to the high school class. In addition to a thorough introduction to the 16 national career clusters, financial literacy will be taught.
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