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Unit 5 students begin talking about their interests and passions in life during advisory time their 6th grade year. As students progress through middle school, additional Career Cruising activities are completed within advisory time to help students to identify areas of interest. Exploratory classes incorporate career exposure lessons and students investigative career opportunities that align to their class content. Depending on the exploratory courses a student is enrolled in, this career exposure could range from careers associated with technology and computer science to careers associated with culinary options (family and consumer science) or the arts.
During their eighth grade year students all participate in a large regional Career Fair at the Interstate Center. The goal with this event is to provide additional exposure to career options and to help students identify areas of interest as well as areas they are not interested in pursuing. As part of the eighth grade Language Arts curriculum, students also research a specific career of interest. Students write an informative paper on their chosen career and also prepare a speech. Kingsley Junior High School decided to take this project even further this year. Students were asked to create a visual diplay of their career information and then speak about their selected career to teachers and other students. Additionally, multiple volunteers from the community came to KJ to share career experiences from their respective fields.
When students sign up for high school courses, we are hopeful that they are taking courses aligned with their interests, passions and future careers. Multiple career pathways have been established for high school students that will prepare students in targeted coursework. Additional college and career focused activities occur when students reach high school but the efforts to identify areas of passion and potential career interests start well before!
The pathways and Programs of Study can be found by clicking here .