The Express-Times has a story on a recent mock job fair at Nazareth HS (read the article here).
I was struck/humored by the terminology in the headline "Academically Challenged" to describe the students who participated, but beyond that, I think the job fair was a great idea.
We need to prepare all students for post high school life, whatever it may be.
There is obviously a big difference between a HS Diploma, Certified Trade, and a four year college degree or post-graduate degree, but at the same time, a four year degree isn't necessarily more valuable than the certified trade. Students need to understand that having a degree doesn't ensure a path to riches. The degree field, academic performance, and ability to write a resume and interview well will be a critical first step. The second step is doing the job well.
I'm afraid many students believe jobs and salary will come to them and they underestimate the amount of hard work required to be successful.
In some way this understanding must be instilled as well. For this group of students, the mock job fair was probably a very valuable exercise, and a follow-up articulating employee expectations and where your salary goes (ie a starting salary whittled down to take-home pay with examples of typical monthly bills for a person renting and owning) would also be great tools.
Congratulations to the teachers who put this program together and best of luck to them expanding it in the future.
2 comments:
I have a major problem with the statement that "this was intended for students searching for work right out of high school rather than college".
This appears to me to be the major drive of NASD. Every step of the way has been to focus on CIT driven programs instead of college.
When my child had "career day" speakers in the MS, all of the speakers were CIT grads without college degrees. Not that I have anything against CIT and graduates of that program, kids were not given a similar talk from a person with a degree.
It is frustrating when I am trying to prepare my child for the college experience, everything NASD is doing goes against that.
I would be interested to see if they plan on doing something similar to help students put together applications for college?
I found some of the comments to be a bit insulting to the kids "They don't need MacBeth" This is what school is supposed to be about, providing an education that includes the likes of MacBeth and the Federalist Papers. It causes them to think.
I also was a bit amazed by the attire. The young lad needed a haircut and where was his shirt and tie. The young lady in the background appeared to have a mini skirt and snowboots on as well as a "V" blouse. Please read Dear Abby in the 1/13/09 issue of the Easton Express-Times. Kids show up dressed like the above and then wonder why they did not get the job.
All and all I was left with the impression that these kids were somehow second class students. I have always been a big fan of vocational schools. We need good carpenters, plumbers,electricians and more. A lot of creative kids get the opportunity to finally express themselves and show off their talents. On top of that if you are good at your work, you will be living the dream, doing what you love, and making a darn good living--ever try to find a good craftsmand today. Instead we push kids into college because we believe that is where it is at and while we are at it let's make them all some type of computer geek. The result of all this emphasis on college has been to create mediocre colleges with less then mediocre professors who fleece you for your kids education.
We, of course, need both and I would encourage parents to discuss this with your child finding out what they would like to do. Above all, you help them prepare for that job or school interview and not matter how bad they holler about the dress or the suit, they will thank you for it when they enter college or the job.
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