Career Awareness
October, 2023
Career Awareness in Action
Introduction to Careers
- 2nd grade students began with a read aloud to There's a Hat for That, by Kevin Fleming and then filled out a Career Awareness Assessment. After that, they participated in a career matching game and decorated a community helper career character. They ended the day with filling in a career day activity page.
- 4th/5th grade students began by filling out a Career Awareness Assessment form and then working with a partner to complete an ABCs of careers paper. After that they wrote sentences about a community helper career character and ended their day by filling in a "When I Grow Up," activity page.
Schools we visited this month:
Dorr Elementary, 2nd Grade
Swanton Elementary, 2nd Grade
Holloway Elementary, 2nd Grade
Eastwood Elementary, 2nd Grade
Crissey Elementary, 2nd Grade
Otsego Elementary, 2nd Grade
Elmwood Elementary, 4th Grade
Northwood Elementary, 5th Grade
Dorr Elementary: 2nd Grade
Swanton Elementary: 2nd Grade
Holloway Elementary: 2nd Grade
Eastwood Elementary: 2nd Grade
Crissey Elementary: 2nd Grade
Otsego Elementary: 2nd Grade
Holland Intermediate: 4th & 5th
Mr. G, counselor at Holland Intermediate introduced the Introduction to Careers kit to twelve 4th grade classes and nine 5th grade classes.
Elmwood Elementary: 4th Grade
Northwood Elementary: 5th Grade
YouScience
The goal of YouScience is to help students uncover and understand their natural abilities and find the career paths that will best use those talents. This month we implemented YouScience with 9th graders at Genoa High School.
Career Connections with Mrs. May
Mrs. May's Career Connections class has been exploring the Agriculture & Environmental systems career pathway. They participated in some exploration activities to learn about agriculture in their new outdoor learning lab. They were able to do soil testing with various different types of soil.
Penta Career Center's Sophomore Exploratory Program
Penta offers the Sophomore Exploratory Program for students who are interested in investigating career-technical fields on Penta’s campus. In this year-long program, sophomores will explore up to three career areas, earn academic credits, and receive small group and one-on-one career and life skills mentoring. At the conclusion of this program, students will have the tools and knowledge necessary to make informed choices regarding their future educational, career and life plans. As part of the admissions process for this program, students will participate in a Career Assessment prior to acceptance into this program.
The Sophomore Advanced Manufacturing Academy is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in the manufacturing industry. Sophomores will be instructed in safety, attain valuable skills and learn about the variety of career opportunities in the manufacturing industry. Students will experience manufacturing areas such as: Welding, Precision Machining, Robotics & Automation, and Computer-Aided Design.
The application process for the Sophomore Exploratory program and the Sophomore Advanced Manufacturing Academy for the 2024-2025 school year will be available by mid-September 2023.
MEMBER SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT: Anthony Wayne Local Schools
Meet Stephanie Buckenmeyer and Learn about How Anthony Wayne Tackles Career Education
I am the Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Career Development (7-12) at Anthony Wayne Local Schools. This year marks my fourth year in this role; previously, I was the Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Anthony Wayne Junior High School for three years, and before that, I taught mathematics at Anthony Wayne Junior High School (seven years) and Evergreen High School (two years). I am a lifetime resident of Northwest Ohio and an AW, University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University alumnus. With my husband, we are raising our two children (thirteen and twelve) in the area. As a member of a small business family, I understand the strains on businesses today and the need for our students to enter the workforce with a multitude of skills beyond academic content. I am passionate about lifelong learning and am currently a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Education.
At AW, we have students begin with YouScience activities in 6th grade; then, in 7th grade, students complete the expanded version. We use the results of the 7th-grade experience to help guide students to choose which experiences to visit at our 7th-grade career fair. At AW, the sixteen career clusters are divided into six career houses:
- Helping and Teaching People
- Communication and Travel
- Leadership and Finance
- Rules and Enforcement
- Making and Shipping
- STEM
Each house has a color coordinated to it. Then, at the career fair, the interactive booths are color-coded to help students find the ones of most interest.
In 8th grade, we expose the students to the concept of the three post-high school pathways (Education, Employment, and Enlistment - the three Es), and discuss how careers in all career houses can be accessed through each of these pathways. Students also visit Penta Career Center to hear about various ways to continue their education.
In 9th grade, the students are guided to understand each of the sixteen career clusters separately (not just as 6 houses), and we take the entire grade to the JA Inspire event, where they have the ability to interact with careers within their areas of interest. Additionally, starting in 9th grade, students are able to attend our 30-minute career talks, where people come to AW to speak with students about their careers, as well as career field trips, where we take students to experiences outside of the school building related to career choices. The summer between freshman and sophomore year is marked with the completion of the HS version of YouScience.
Students in 10th grade, along with a whole class field trip to Penta, the Career Talks, and Career Field Trips, begin to narrow their choices of career clusters, and rank the 3Es in their preferred order. We use the YouScience results to assist in the choices they are making in their career exploration. During the summer between sophomore and junior year, students complete a research project related to their YouScience results, which culminates with an interview with someone in one of their chosen area.
Junior year, students narrow their choices to two of the 3Es, and identify 2-4 of the career clusters of interest. They are encouraged to begin to articulate why these choices were made and potential jobs within these career clusters. Students also complete a summer career exploration experience between their junior and senior years which consists of a choice board listing options such as attending a college visit, meeting with a recruiter, career interviews, taking the ASVAB or ACT, etc.
Senior year, students continue to determine their final choices for their next steps post-high school. Additionally, students attend an In Demand Jobs and Career fair where they practice their networking skills (dressing nicely, introducing themselves, practice interviews) while learning about potential opportunities for internships, apprenticeships, and jobs.
Check out our website to see even more of what we are doing with Career Education and future updates.