Integrating Middle & High School Career Work

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Integrating Middle High School Career Work
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools East Chapel
Hill High School Career and Technical
Education Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Presenter Information
Ms. Fletcher Womble Career Development
Coordinator at East Chapel Hill High School.
Previous work experience includes one year
middle school CDC, one year high school
counselor, two years high school special
services.
Ms. Darcy Turner Career Development Coordinator
Intern. Previously a Middle School Counselor at
Phillips Middle School, an ECHHS main feeder
school, for 13 years. 
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What will be covered in presentation

• The importance of integrating middle school and
  high school career work activities
• What our middle schools are doing to promote
  career awareness
• Combined middle and high school career
  exploration opportunities
• High school career activities and exploration
• Conclusions
• Questions?

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Why is it Important to Integrate?
integrate in-ti-greyt  verb, -grated, -grat
ing. verb (used with object)1.to bring together  o
r incorporate (parts) into a whole. 2.to make up, 
combine, or complete to produce a whole or a
larger unit, as parts do. 3.to unite or combine.
www.Dictionary.com
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So Why is it Important.
It is important to integrate Career information
so students see that Career Exploration takes
time and is a process. Connecting these steps
through middle and high school helps students
understand the process and see the evolving
progression of their own interests, knowledge,
and skills.
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Overview of Middle School Career Activities

• Our school district does not employ Career
  Development Coordinators in the middle schools,
  
• School counselors are responsible for
  promoting career exploration to students
  through classroom visits, discussions, career
  exploration websites, job shadowing, etc. 

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6th Grade

• Classroom Guidance
• What is a career?
• Why do we have them?
• How do people spend money?
• Is money really necessary?
• Do people have to like their careers?
• Tools Charades Math class project
  Futures4Kids (connected with the ASCA National
  Model) Career Week with Panel

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Real Life Career Math
Scenario You have just received your diploma and
are about to enter the real world. You will be
given a career with a set income and your task is
to create a realistic budget. An even bigger
challenge is to live within that budget.
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but I cant be overdrawn! I still have checks
left!
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7th Grade

• Interests in relation to careers
• Tools Futures4Kids Career Game District
  Career Expo Letter to Self Career Week with
  Panel

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8th Grade

• Planning for HS and life beyond
• What is a transcript? GPA?
• 4 Year Plans (paper and F4K)
• College/Workforce Prep
• Student Service Learning
• Scholarships
• Day on the Job (incorporates LA SS Science
  Math courses)
• Letters to Self returned (CHANGE even within one
  year)
• Counselor Chats
• I Beginning the Transition
• II Panel of High School Students
• III CTE Options Middle College

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Combined Middle School and High School Career
Programs and Activities

• We have various activities and events that
  combine our middle and high school students.
• Students learn best from each other
• Offering opportunities for students in
  different grades to interact has proven very
  beneficial for their career development.  

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 DISTRICT WIDE CAREER EXPO

• Evening event 530-730pm
• Grades 6-12 are invited
• Located at the local shopping mall
• Middle school and high school counselors
• High school CTE teachers
• Middle and high school student volunteers
• CTSOs set up table displays
• Over 80 career presenters representing the
  various career clusters

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Middle School Information Sessions

• High school CTE students are invited to the
  middle schools for various sessions to talk
  about high school and courses offered
• Usually this occurs during National Career and
  Technical Education Month (February).
• The middle school students look up to those in
  high school and listen to what they say.

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Rising Freshmen CTE Open House Night

• Rising freshmen and their parents are invited
• Evening event to promote CTE course offerings
• Occurs during course registration period (early
  spring)
• HS CTE students volunteer to talk about their
  courses
• Visitors are taken on a tour of all CTE
  classrooms
• Displays are set up promoting the courses with
  examples of class work and projects
• Visitors talk to the teachers and current
  students

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What are the High Schools doing for career
development?
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Computer-based Career Development
Naviance F4K CFNC
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NAVIANCE
School purchased program Every student in the
high school has an account College and Career
search School specific data Personality
Inventory Do What You Are Career Interest
Profiler based on the Holland Code Resume
Yellow sheet
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Future for Kids (Career Cruising)
Every student in the high school has an
account, follows them from Middle School
College and Career search Resume Career
Interest Inventory, Skills Inventory, Ability
Profiler, Learning Styles Inventory
Communicate to professionals in various careers
through a message board format Complete 4
year high school plans and update yearly
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College Foundation of North Carolina
College and career planning program for NCFree
Students create own loginSchools can monitor
and follow student progressGreat for parents
and studentsCollege, Financial Aid, Careers
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• Other Resources for Career Development
• Career Information Center
• Strong Interest Inventory
• Career books and videos
• Classroom Speakers (Careers in the Community
  Program)
• Post-secondary opportunities 2yr, 4yr, military,
  gap year, work
• Field Trips
• Internships and Job Shadowing
• Interview skills, resume writing workshops

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District-wide Career Fair Why Try SOAR
Job Fair
Events for Career Development
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What is the Why Try Program?
Strength-based approach to helping students
overcome challenges and difficulties regarding
truancy, behaviors, and academics, and improve
their outcomes in these areas. Mission is to
offer hope and an answer to the question Why try
in life? Key to programs success is the
power in the relationship between a caring adult
and a student that needs help. Program teaches
social and emotional principles to students in a
way that they can understand and remember. Uses
a visual tool to teach a specific principle and
then reinforces the principle with musical and
physical activities.
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• First year of implementing the program
• 2 Family Specialist, 2 CDCs, 1 SPC all trained
  in the WhyTry program
• Focusing on freshmen students
• Students are invited to join the WhyTry program
  through referrals from teachers, counselors,
  school-wide watch list, and/or administrators.
• Meetings are held in the CIC during lunch.
  Sometimes lunch is provided.

www.whytry.org
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S.O.A.R.
Sophomores On A Roll
The purpose of this fair is to give our sophomore
students a better understanding of various
careers and continue building strong partnerships
with the school districts and community. Students
attend enhancement sessions and then rotate
through workshops on various career clusters of
their choosing based on their interest inventory
results. Students are selected to attend the
SOAR program through referrals from teachers,
counselors, school-wide watch list, and/or
administrators.
Refer to gray form in folder for SOAR program
sign up sheet
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Upper Classmen Job Fair
Held each year in the early Spring Students
bring resumes Students come dressed to
impress Businesses come ready to hire
students Informal interviews are conducted
Students walk out with a job offer for the
upcoming summer
Green sheets in folder
Student Preparation for Job Fair Complete a
resume and cover letter Practice interview
questions Lesson on how to dress
professionally Lesson on etiquette
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Great Opportunities to promote Career
Awareness(at both levels)
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National Career Development Month (November)
All students are encouraged to complete an
interest inventory Career Quotes are read over
the daily announcements Video announcements with
facts and statistics about careers as well as
definitions of career, work, and job Poster
contest for all students with a prize reward to
the winners Examples of promotional items given
to teachers to help recruit them to talk about
careers are found in your folders (salmon colored
paper) Classroom Speakers across disciplines
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National Career and Technical Education Month
(February)CTE Power Lunches Our CTE students
and teachers set up table displays during lunch
promoting the various CTE courses available
Career Quotes and facts read on the daily
announcementsVideo announcements (pictures of
CTE students and class assignments)Poster
contest with the National ACTE theme again, with
a cash prize reward to the winners Career
Speakers Student tours of CTE courses
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School Publications and Announcements

• Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA)
  weekly E-Blast, monthly Wildcat News
• CIC weekly updates and emails
• Counselor emails regarding upcoming events
• Local Newspapers and radio
• CIC Website

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Tips for a successful integration of Middle and
High School Career Work
Communication between the schools Annual events
for students to look forward to Variety of
activities between grade levels Teacher and
administrative support 21st century skills
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QUESTIONS?
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Contact Information 
Ms. Fletcher Womble Career Development
Coordinator fwomble_at_chccs.k12.nc.us
Ms. Darcy Turner Career Development Coordinator
Intern darcy_at_langoasis.org
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Helpful Programs and Websites

• College Foundation of North Carolina, http//www.c
  fnc.org
• Future for Kids, http//www.f4k.org/
• Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com
• Naviance, http//www.naviance.com/ (company
  website)
• ECHHS CIC Website, http//www.chccs.k12.nc.us/echh
  s/cic
• CPP, Strong Interest Inventory, www.cpp.com