Full+Presentation+for+Dr.+Baker


 * 7th Grade Career Day Flyer**

**Power Point Presentation**

**Career Workshop For John F. Kennedy Middle School**
 * Workshop Purpose:** To help middle school students to begin to think about their personality, values, abilities, skills, and interests and how these relate to career options. Students will learn about major career clusters and specific jobs within those clusters. They will also learn how to research careers on the Internet. Additionally, students will learn skills and values that are important to employers such as teambuilding, goal setting, honesty, respect, responsibility, and general business etiquette.

**7th Grade One Day Career Workshop:** __7th Grade Overview__ The 7th grade workshop will focus on helping students to think about what they want their future to look like, as well as developing self-knowledge in the areas of abilities, skills, personality, and interests and how these traits can relate to a future career. Students will learn how to research three careers of interest on the Internet that match their personality and skills. They will also determine how their personal values should play a role in what career they pursue. Students will learn about the "soft skills" that employers are seeking in employees. They will look at the careers of their family members and think about their influence on their career development. Students will also examine gender stereotypes and how they affect one's career decision. Finally, the 7th grade students will develop a personal budget to see how much things actually cost and how much money they will have to make in order to maintain their desired lifestyle.

Activities will include the following:
 * Participation in team building initiative
 * Development of a "Dream Collage"
 * Learning how to set realistic goals and how to celebrate successes
 * Holland Code Party Game to determine students' Holland Code personality types
 * Research requirements for three careers of interest using O*NET
 * Work in small groups to create a personal budget where each group is given a set salary
 * Determine what values are most important to students while playing Work Values Bingo
 * Complete workplace values scenarios on honesty, time management, responsibility, respect, etc.
 * Hold class and small group discussions on career gender stereotypes
 * Learning how to create a family career genogram and discuss the influence of one's family on one's future career decision
 * Students in the Chestnutt Hill School District develop a career portfolio beginning in elementary school, which they take with them from grade to grade, so they can continue adding career information until they graduate. All information from this career workshop will be saved in each student's portfolio.


 * Click on Word Documents below for complete lesson plan for each activity, including goals, objectives, time allotted, and materials needed.















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Our career workshop activities meet many middle school career education mandates for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Click on document below to see these mandates.



Because there are approximately 200 students in the 7th grade and 50 computers in the school's computer lab, the counselors had to design a schedule that would permit all 200 students to use the lab to complete the O*Net career exploration exercise. Please click on attached Word Document to see schedule for the day.





__Logistical Considerations for Career Workshop__
 * Please note that John F. Kennedy Middle School consists of 7th and 8th grade students. There are approximately 200 students in the 7th grade and 200 students in the 8th grade. There are far too many students to coordinate to have a meaningful one day event that will encompass the entire school; however, we counselors feel that it is critical that both grades receive some type of career program. We decided that in order to reach the entire middle school with career information it would be best to have separate all day workshops for each grade.

The 8th grade workshop will take place in the fall because if we have it during the first or second week of November, it will give us ample time to plan the event and the chances of having to cancel the event due to snow are less likely than if we had it in the spring. We also do not want the event too close to the holidays because it will be difficult to get employers to come and because we are worried that the students will not demonstrate their best behavior. We want students to behave respectfully or else employers will not want to return next year, as we plan to make this a yearly event. Additionally, at our school the 8th graders have to choose a career pathway during December and we counselors want to make sure they are prepared to make that decision. Students in 9th grade in our district are placed into Small Learning Communities where they take all core courses, but they also take electives that will give them the knowledge needed to succeed in a particular career pathway. Please note that students are not bound to a particular career, but are exposed to various careers within that career cluster or "pathway". Students may change their mind and switch career pathways at any time. In order to graduate, students only need to complete the core courses (which are the same for each pathway) and a certain amount of credits in electives, which can be from any pathway. The 7th grade workshop will take place during the second half of the year at a time when it does not interefere with PSSA testing.


 * 8th Grade One Day Career Workshop:**

__8th Grade Overview__ For the 8th grade students we counselors came up with a one day workshop that would expose them to jobs in five main career clusters, which are Arts, Humanities, & Communications; Healthcare, Mental Health, & Emergency Services; Engineering, Science, and Technology; Skilled Trades; and Business. We decided that the best way to expose students to careers is to have a career day where students would hear from professionals in their respective fields. These professionals would speak about their careers for 15-20 minutes and then spend the remaining portion of the hour engaging students in an activity that showcases what they do at work every day. The objective is to make this event more like a mini-career camp where students are actively engaged than just listening to speakers for hours on end.

Because students have already begun the process of eliminating career choices based on gender and prestige, we want the students to attend a presentation in each career cluster. Because the presenters are preparing activities for the students, our desire is to keep the class sizes small with no more than 25 students per presentation (which is the number of students per homeroom). In order to achieve the smaller class size, we came up with four career speakers representing four different careers, for each of the five clusters. The counselors will need to find twenty volunteer speakers for the day and each student will see five speakers. While we are making each student attend a presentation in every career cluster, we are letting students decide which of the four speakers in each cluster interests them most and we are trying as much as possible to place students with their first or second job choice for each cluster. In this way we are promoting career exploration, but we are also ensuring that students get to listen to a career speaker that at least partially interests them. While we do not want students to eliminate careers this early on, we also want them to find the career workshop exciting and personally meaningful. We want to encourage our youth to continue researching careers on their own and give them the tools needed for this seemingly daunting task. Finally, one important aspect we considered when designing our Career Speakers Bureau was that a large percentage of our student population are African-American or Latino. We decided to invite as many African-American and Latino career speakers as possible because we felt that the students would be better able to relate to them. Additionally, we invited as many females and males in non-traditional jobs as possible to show students that they should not eliminate job choices based on gender-typing.

Additionally, we thought it would be fun to start the day off with a goal setting lesson and have the students design goal boxes as a way of scaling their progress toward their future goals. In this activity students decorate a shoebox or other type of box. During the lesson students will learn all about how to set short and long term goals. They will write out several short and long term goals for their future and place them inside their goal box. Every time they complete one of their goals, they will put a physical reminder of that goal completion into the box. For example, if a student wants to get straight As in school and they achieve that, they can put their report card in the box. We counselors also felt it would be fun to have all the 8th grade students participate in a Business Etiquette Luncheon over their lunch period to teach students table manners and basic business etiquette. Career Speakers will be invited to sit with the students during lunch as part of a mentoring program.

Activities will include the following:
 * Completion of Goal Setting lesson accompanied by Goal Shoebox Activity
 * Business Etiquette Mentoring Luncheon
 * Exposure to five career speakers representing five different career clusters, including career information and participation in career activity

__Career Speakers by Occupation & Career Cluster Along with Career Activity__ //__Arts, Humanities, & Communications__// Musical Theater Performer Students will perform acting and singing exercises and act out group skits. The speaker will also bring a model of the theater to show students as well as costumes, props, and head shots. The performer will also be bringing a DVD of a recent show to play a small portion for students.

Interior Designer Students will draw a sample room that includes furniture placement. They will pick out samples of paint and fabric swatches to go with their room decor. The interior designer will also show students pictures of his work.

News Anchor Students will be given several sample news stories and they will take turns practicing being a news anchor as another student videotapes their session.

Lawyer Students will engage in a mock trial. The lawyer will be the judge. One student will agree to represent the defendant. Another student will volunteer for the prosecution. The rest of the students will serve as the jurors. To save time the entire script will be written out already and students will read the parts. The jurors will have to deliberate and see who wins the case.

//__Healthcare, Mental Health, & Emergency Services__// Surgical Technician Students will participate in a hand washing exercise where they use special tablets to wash their hands to see how many germs are left. They will perform a relay race to see how quickly they can change into scrubs and wash their hands properly. Additionally, students will practice surgery by removing gummy worms from a dummy using surgical equipment.

Drug & Alcohol Counselor Students will participate in the "Beer Goggle Olympics". They will put on beer goggles that represent being impaired by alcohol and then try to engage in a few basic tasks like throwing a ball to another student or walking in a straight line. They will also design posters to educate young people about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and refusal skills.

FBI Agent Students will watch a video from an agent who works to catch child predators. They will learn how easy it is for a child predator to find a child's home by performing an exercise in which they search Google Maps to find an arial view of their house. They will view a student's MySpace page to see how easy it is for child predators to find out personal information on children. They will also perform a reverse look up with the white pages to find out an address or phone number.

Physical Therapist Students will view gruesome slides of physical injuries that need to be treated by a physical therapist. They will also practice wrapping each other's "injuries".

__//Engineering, Science, & Technology//__ Mechanical Engineer Students will design a bridge out of popsicle sticks.

Graphic Designer Students will design a spirit poster for the Kennedy Middle School Cougars sports teams.

Scientist Students will create a tornado in a bottle.

Computer Programmer Students will learn how to write computer code.

//__Skilled Trades__// Construction Worker Students will construct bird houses.

Spa Owner One student will volunteer to have a mini-makeover and students will take turns curling hair, applying makeup, and painting nails.

Chef Students will have the chance to make fondue and design various fancy garnishes.

Electrician Students will learn how to create a working circuit board.

//__Business Careers__// Accountant Students will learn how to do their personal taxes.

Banker/Investment Broker Students will learn about loans, credit, and personal money management. They will also play the stock game.

Marketing Students will develop a marketing plan for the Hershey Bears hockey team.

Administrative Assistant/Data Entry/Medical Biller & Coder (Consolidated School of Business)
 * We could not find a secretary able to attend, so we asked a business school instead.









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__Evaluations for Middle School Career Workshop__ The counselors decided it would be most effective to have the students evaluate the career workshop because no matter how well we think we did, it is the opinions of the students that really matter. We might also decide to have a teacher evaluate the career speakers because sometimes a speaker will do a great job, but students will not like the career that person represents. Additionally, we might decide to have the speakers evalute our event because we want to address any concerns to make sure our speakers keep coming back from year to year.

Click below to see student evaluation forms for 7th and 8th grades.



**Literature Review**

Career Development for Middle School Students

aaaaaa Middle school students have many things to worry about including bullying, social status, and academics. By building a positive rapport with their students school counselors will be able to address these concerns. In addition, many middle school students are making academic choices that may impact their high school course choices and also their future careers. This makes it important for school counselors to develop plans that will focus on the middle school students' career development needs before they enter high school. It is normal for middle school students to be unsure about their career aspirations. A career exploration program during these years will help middle schoolers develop the necessary skills for the career decision-making process. These skills include learning about the tools and resources available to explore a variety of career options. In addition, it is crucial that parents remain involved and supportive during the career development process. Involved, supportive parents help increase their child's confidence and self-efficacy levels. There are many studies involving middle school students that demonstrate the important roles that both parents and teachers play in the career development process. Overall, middle school is an important time to explore and establish both career and educational goals.

** Needs of Middle School Students **

aaaaa According to Akos, Konold, and Niles (2004) middle school students struggle with many issues that are specifically related to their stage of development. These include physical, psychological, and social changes. Not only are these students trying to develop their personal identity through all of these changes, they are also expected to make preliminary decisions in their plan of study. These decisions will often advance or hinder future career opportunities. Career theorists suggest that certain factors that impact this specific age group are (a) curiosity, (b) fantasy, (c) identification with workers, (d) gender stereotyping, (e) race, (f) class, and (e) social valuation (Akos et al., 2004).

aaaaa Two specific goals for career counselors working with middle school students involve the development of interpersonal skills and the increase of occupational knowledge (Osborn & Reardon, 2006). Super (as cited in Akos, 2004) believed that although it is developmentally appropriate for middle school students to be unsure about career aspirations they should still be involved in the understanding of their crystallizing identity. According to Marcia (as cited in Akos et al., 2004) middle school students are not necessarily committed to certain roles and values but they should be actively engaged in the exploration process.

aaaaa Arrington (as cited in Akos, 2004) found that more parents of middle school students report a desire for their children to receive career guidance than at any other educational level. Since these students are at risk for encountering career development tasks without the proper preparation, they require interventions that are specific to their career readiness needs (Akos et al, 2004). Career readiness, also defined as career maturity, is one of the most researched topics of adolescent career development. Even if they are undecided about career decisions, middle school students can move in a positive direction by learning more about themselves in relation to their career options.

aaaaa A major theme of middle school students is the inability to make a connection between school and work. In addition, many at-risk students are likely to drop out of school because they are not able to see the value of academic success (Legum & Hoare, 2004). Researchers suggest that career development should serve as a continuous element of students’ educational experiences. Increasing students' career awareness levels in the elementary school years can help lead to career exploration at the middle school level (Legum & Hoare, 2004). In addition, service learning provides students with the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to activities and tasks in the community. Studies have shown that students who participated in such activities had increased personal and social development, civic responsibility, academic learning, and career development (Stott, 2005).

** Interventions **

aaaaa According to Arrington (2000) it is important that middle school students are exposed to opportunities that will help develop their career awareness. For example, students should understand the amount of education required to become a doctor or the geographic requirements of certain careers such as a marine biologist. This knowledge will help students make realistic career choices. In addition, career guidance programs at this age should focus on career exploration, helping students understand how their interests and abilities relate to certain careers. This is important since Schaefer, Rivera, and Ophals (2010) stated that more than 80% of middle school students do not understand how their favorite school subjects can be applied to a future career. Career exploration can help middle school students understand the link between their current classes and their future career dreams (Schaefer et al., 2010), and understanding this link is important since the classes chosen in eighth grade will impact both high school and college opportunities (Arrington, 2000). Arrington suggests that career guidance programs during the middle school years should help students develop a "plan of study," which is a planned order of classes taken during the middle and high school years. In addition, middle school students should begin to understand the post-secondary educational opportunities that are available.

aaaaa Successful career exploration activities for middle school students include creating a career portfolio, job shadowing, mentoring, and assessments such as interest inventories (Arrington, 2000). Another opportunity to explore careers is provided when students complete a career genogram (Gibson, 2005). The genogram can help students understand their interests, identify a variety of occupations, and explore the education required for specific careers. In addition to these activities, career counselors should provide middle school students and their parents with information about financial aid opportunities for post-secondary education. Since these students will be making decisions about high school classes, college classes, and their eventual career, Arrington states that middle school career counseling programs should help students learn decision-making skills. In addition, to help encourage future success, middle school students need to develop their time management and study skills (Arrington, 2000).

** Self-Efficacy **

aaaaa According to Turner and Lapan (2002) middle school students need to develop competency in career planning and exploration and gain confidence in career development tasks. For example, students who are informed about different career options and are exposed to work environments are more likely to gain confidence in their skills and abilities. This will increase their level of self-efficacy and these students tend to become more interested in different career options and their future. When students are exposed to a “real” workplace, they tend to become more interested and involved in their own school work. Gibbons and Borders (2010) believe that most students make educational decisions between the eighth and tenth grade. This makes middle school an important time in the career development process. It is also important that the parents of middle school students are supportive regarding career and college planning. Supportive parents help increase students' career decision-making self-efficacy levels. Students that come from low-income families with positive peer and sibling support demonstrate higher vocational and education self-efficacy. The more educated children are about career decision-making, the more involved and confident they become in their skills and abilities.

aaaaa Legum and Hoare conducted a study of sixth and seventh grade students who were at risk of failing their classes. The students were split into two groups, experimental and control group. The experimental group completed a career exploration inventory. After the children picked three different careers that they were interested in, they learned how to research those jobs. This included searching for information on the education and training necessary for specific jobs. The children in the experimental group were also taught different skills such as how to complete a job application and interview techniques. Legum and Hoare found that the middle school students in the experimental group showed an increase in achievement and motivation levels when compared to the control group. In addition, these children were more well-rounded and did not fear the future as much as children in the control group.

aaaaa A major theme of self-efficacy is that individuals involved with students such as parents, peers, and teachers play a large role in the career development process. Throughout middle school it is important that parents and teachers support students. When given this support children gain the confidence and motivation necessary to develop appropriate career decision-making skills. These skills also help children recognize how their current and future classes, including college, are relevant to their future career goals.

**Theories and Research** aaaaa Much research available on middle school career development is geared towards helping at-risk youth to be successful choosing careers that require higher skill levels and pay a sustainable wage. Additionally, there are numerous research studies designed to find out why females and members of some minority ethnic groups (Hispanics and African Americans) tend not to choose STEM careers, which involve science, technology, engineering, and math.

aaaaa One relevant study, called the Career Horizons Program, was conducted for a week over the summer at a mid-western university in the 1990s. This program helped 57 students labeled by their school counselors as being at-risk for choosing an unsuitable "fantasy" career or limiting themselves to low skill and low wage jobs. The sample included incoming 7th graders and was fairly representative of all major races; however, it contained only 9% Hispanics and many more females than males. The median family income for participants was $20,026 per year. Students lived in dorms on campus for the week and participated in a wide variety of exciting classroom activities coordinated through the university's Psychology Department. Students completed the Self-Directed Search Career Explorer to determine their Holland Codes and then applied this knowledge to potential career options. They also learned decision-making, study skills, teambuilding, and goal setting. Additionally, participants discussed how teen pregnancy and drug abuse can interfere with their goals. To change students' negative perceptions of math and science, several scientists from diverse backgrounds (including women) conducted hands-on experiments with the youth. An awards banquet was held at the end of the week and parents were invited (O'Brien, Dukstein, Jackson, Tomlinson, & Kamatuka, 1999).

aaaaa At the conclusion of the summer camp students were asked to complete a survey to determine their career development self-efficacy. The results were that students had more confidence in their ability to plan for and explore careers and did a better job matching careers to interests. Students were more likely to identify career possibilities they may not have previously considered. Several recommendations were made at the conclusion of this program, which included holding interventions year round, having students volunteer, conducting individual student counseling sessions, and increasing parental involvement (O'Brien et al., 1999).

aaaaa A second study looks at middle school girls in southeastern Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s who show academic promise and interest in math and science careers. The purpose of the study was to see if girls' views towards math and science careers changed at all between 7th grade and 12th grade. Initially 391 7th grade females participated in career days for math and science at a nearby college. The career days were led by female scientists and included exciting hands-on experiments, as well as a panel discussion where female role models presented career information (VanLeuvan, 2004).

aaaaa The 7th grade participants completed a survey before the career days and again when they were in the 12th grade to ascertain their interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Survey results showed that 7th grade females were more likely to want to pursue a Doctoral Degree than the senior girls. A second discovery was that 12th grade females were much less likely than 7th grade females to want to pursue careers in math or sciences, such as chemistry or physics. Most girls at the senior high level showed higher interest in health careers and biology. Interestingly, there was a slight increase in senior girls who were interested in technology careers. Senior girls often stated that work in the "harder" sciences and math involved long hours, little enjoyment, and little contact with people. One issue with the study was that the number of 12th grade respondents was significantly lower than the initial number of 7th grade respondents. There were some students in this study who ended up pursuing non-STEM careers; however, a substantial number of participants did end up choosing science careers, but most were in the health field (VanLeuvan, 2004).

aaaaa What implications for middle school youth career development can be gained from these two studies? Firstly, one common theme is that activities for middle school youth must be exciting and involve hands-on activities. Secondly, students must understand the connection between what they are studying in school and how it applies to careers. Thirdly, students must be taught how to make good decisions and set appropriate goals. For at-risk students and female students, there must be a collaborative effort between schools, colleges, community agencies, and parental support to encourage students to aim higher in their career goals. All students must know about their own abilities, skills, and interests and how these apply to careers. Students should be taught to consider all careers without regard to gender stereotypes. Furthermore, counselors should encourage students and give them the tools needed to research careers they may not have previously considered. Additionally, for at-risk youth other services should be provided such as individual counseling, encouragement, and mentoring. It is critically important that role models in professional fields be from diverse cultural backgrounds and include females, particularly in science, math, and technology careers.

**Conclusion**

aaaaa Middle school is a crucial developmental time for career exploration and decision-making. Longitudinal studies have shown that the choices made by students in middle school have a strong impact on their educational and career development for decades (Trusty, Spenser, & JoLynn, 2005). According to Erikson (as cited in Akos et al., 2004) middle school students begin cognitive and moral processing and engage in tasks related to identity achievement and role confusion. By beginning the process of career exploration during these middle school years, students develop career maturity and gain self confidence. Career counseling can begin in the latter years of elementary school to increase students' awareness levels and begin to prepare the students for further exploration and decision making at the middle school level. It also helps middle school students to develop a plan of study based upon career interests and enables them to have the opportunity to explore a variety of options at an early age. As counselors, career development should serve as an ongoing component of students' educational experiences. By providing various opportunities such as mentoring programs, job shadowing, and career education workshops counselors help students prepare to make decisions that can have a significant impact on their future lives.

**References** Akos, P., Konold, T., & Niles, S. G. (2004). A career readiness typology and typal membership in middle school. //The Career Development Quarterly, 53,// 53-66.

Arrington, K. (2000). Middle grades career planning programs. //Journal of Career Development//, //27//(2), 103-109.

Gibbons, M. M. & Borders, L. D. (2010). A measure of college-going self efficacy for middle school students. //Professional School Counseling//, //13//(4), 234-243.

Gibson, D. M. (2005). The use of genograms in career counseling with elementary, middle, and high school students. //The Career Development Quarterly//, //55//, aaaaa 353-362.

Legum, H. L. & Hoare, C. H. (2004). Impact of a career intervention on at-risk middle school students' career maturity levels, academic achievement, and aaaaa self-esteem. //Professional School Counseling, 8// (2), 148-155.

O'Brien, K. M., Dukstein, R. D., Jackson, S. L., Tomlinson, M. J., & Kamatuka, N. A. (1999). Broadening career horizons for students in at-risk environments. //The aaaaa Career Development Quarterly, 47//, 215-229.

Osborn, D. S. & Reardon, R. C. (2006). Using the self-directed search: Career explorer with high-risk middle school students. //The Career Development Quarterly, aaaaa 54, 269-273.//

Schaefer, M. B., Rivera, L. M., & Ophals, E. (2010). Creating a collaborative career development program for middle grades students. //Middle School Journal//, //42//(2), aaaaa 30-38.

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Stott, K. A. (2005). Using service learning to achieve middle school comprehensive guidance program goals. //Professional School Counseling, 9// (2), 156-159. ======

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Trusty, J., Spenser, N. & Camey, J. V. (2005). Education-career planning and middle school counselors. //Professional School Counseling, 9// (2), 136-143. ======

Turner, S. & Lapan T.R. (2002). Career self-efficacy and perceptions of parent support in adolescent career development. //The Career Development Quarterly, 15//, aaaaa 44-55.
VanLeuvan, P. (2004). Young women's science/mathematics career goals from seventh grade to high school graduation. //Journal of Educational Research, 97// (5),