May: Careers

College and Career Readiness is one of my favorite job responsibilities as a school counselor.  I love the evolution of career preferences that occur as students learn more about themselves and the world around them.  Even in elementary school I get to see a growth in career selection.  In kindergarten students may report they want to be a princess, but by the time they reach 5th grade they begin to take into account realistic reasoning and make career choices based on their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes, and even job outlook.  I always encourage students to continue to learn and grow, make reflections, and research.  It is appropriate, normal, and expected for a student's career aspirations to change all through out their high school (and college) careers.

In our elementary school college and career awareness is truly a year long initiative that culminates into larger end of school year activities.  Between September and April I focus on two career clusters each month via a Career Cafe program.  I invite parent and community speakers to visit our school during 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade lunches to present on their careers.  Each career cafe participation is through invitation.  About 25-30 students are invited to every cafe, allowing invited students to feel special and hopefully ask lots of interesting questions!

At the end of the school year the 4th and 5th grade students participate in college and career awareness field trips.  For the past 4 years students in the 4th grade visited Geneva College located in Beaver Falls, PA in the morning of their field trip, and the Community of College of Beaver County's Aviation School in the afternoon.  During each location visit, students participated in a detailed tour, while also receiving hands-on experience on some of the institutions' instructional tools.  At Geneva College, our 4th grade students sat in on an age appropriate chemistry lesson, and also experimented with CCBC Aviation School's plane simulation equipment.  Both venues offered valuable experiences for our students.  It was my goal for these field trips to provide tangible connections between current school work and future success.  I want students to place value in working hard now so that they are better able and prepared to reach their future college and career goals.

The 5th grade students traveled to Robert Morris University (Moon, PA) during the morning of their field trip, and the Beaver County Career and Technical Center in the afternoon.  Like the 4th grade field trips, students were able to tour the campuses and receive an overview of the educational fields of study that could be provided at each location.  The 5th grade class also participates in a Career Day.  The Career Day is a half day event that enables parent and community speakers to present on their career experiences.

Funding for the field trips have varied.  For a few years a Target Field Trip grant has provided the necessary funds.  This year I was unable to procure the grant, and needed some assistance from our school's PTO to make the trip feasible.

Depending on time restraints, I also like to complete classroom college and career based lessons in all of my pre K through 5th grade classrooms.  These lessons can be found under the "pages" section of this blog.