Step Up To Success!

A Guide to Career & College Readiness in Northwest Michigan

“When I grow up I want to be...” Career Academy for Kids Career Vehicle Event Career Awareness Interest Inventory Career Day Career Speaker Create EDP Street STEM Career Exploration Volunteer Revise EDP Job Shadow CTE Camps Networking CTE Programs College Board/ Khan Academy Soft Skills Dual Enrollment Revisit EDP Business Tours Life Unplugged Financial Aid Work Experience Site Visits Post-Secondary MI Career Quest Create a Resume Interviews College Application Career Opportunities GRADUATION! Congratulations! Each step you took to get here was an important milestone in your future success. Workforce ▪ Military ▪ Post-Secondary Education ▪ I can access career and academic resources in my school and community ▪ I can understand my own career interests and goals. ▪ I have created an Educational Development Plan (EDP) that supports my personal and career goals. ▪ I have perspective on time, effort, experience and and other requirements to pursue my goals. ▪ I can communicate my plan using sound reasoning to a range of audiences ▪ I can identify and use my network to gather resource information and identify a mentor who can support my decision-making and goal development AWARENESS ▪ I can identify a mentor within my network. ▪ I can provide examples of careers that intrigue me. ▪ I can understand my learning styles and interests. ▪ I can recognize how current learning impacts my future. ▪ I can express why knowledge of my skills and interests are important to educational & career goals. ▪ I can adjust my previous EDP to reflect my current challenges, personal and career goals ▪ I can use knowledge and skills I have acquired through school and experience to refine and act on my EDP. ▪ I can appropriately communicate my career plans using sound reasoning to a range of audiences including mentors, family, peers and professionals. ▪ I can make connections between what I am learning with real-world concerns. ▪ I use my network to gather resource information regarding jobs and gain feedback to improve my skills. EXPLORATION PREPARATION
Exploration: Students explore and investigate Michigan’s 17 Career Clusters to discover which pathway and careers best align with their interests. Through embedded classroom lessons and activities, students start to develop an Educational Development Plan (EDP) and a Talent Portfolio. Career information and postsecondary education data are included within the planning process. During Career Exploration, course selections, investigation of multiple pathways, and refining of the EDP occurs. The goal is to create learning opportunities that support academic rigor, knowledge and skill development, social emotional learning, and career exploration. Career Exploration activities are an integrated collection of assessments, skill sets, and services intended to define students’ areas of interest and are aligned with core academic, technical, and employability skills.
Preparation: During Career Preparation, high school students refine their career goals and the necessary educational preparation needed to be productive citizens in a global society. Various career preparation activities provide advanced/real-world experiences that help students link their career options and educational decisions. Students learn through coursework consistent with their career interest area, contextual learning, and Career Preparation while meeting academic standards. Counselors help students and their families plan and prepare for postsecondary education and careers. The goal is to create learning opportunities that support academic rigor, knowledge and skill development, social emotional learning, and career preparation. Career Preparation activities assist students in their academic readiness, connect students to their Career Cluster of interest, and prepare them for high-wage, high-skill, high-demand careers. Student coursework should be aligned with their academic, technical, and career preparation interests as they begin to develop their employability skills.
Awareness: During the early grade levels students become familiar with careers through learning that connects classroom instruction to future work. Career Awareness strategies introduce students to various types of careers. At the elementary level it is important that student exposure includes a broad spectrum of Career Zones, including careers that are nontraditional for their gender. The targets create learning opportunities that support academic rigor, knowledge and skill development, social emotional learning, and career awareness.