Education
Reinventors

Career readiness is a hot topic in education. Can you share your thoughts on what’s happening in this space, especially in your district?
When I was growing up, students had a wider menu of career readiness choices. There were excellent programs for college-bound students and for those who wanted to enter the workforce right after high school. Over the years, our district has moved toward an academy approach that devotes significant resources to students preparing for higher education. Bit by bit, technical and vocational programs lost momentum.

That sounds like a major shift. Why do you think this happened?
As educators, we became very engaged in helping students gain admission to their colleges of choice. Partly, this reflected social changes that positioned higher education as a portal to success and the desire to open doors for everyone who wanted to attend.

Supporting college-bound students is still very important. But in our district, we realize it’s time to rebalance our resources. We’re putting serious energy behind programs that prepare students who want to begin their working lives right after graduation.

How are you improving career readiness offerings for these students?
River Dell High School has run a senior service program for more than 20 years. This gives 12th graders the chance to do volunteer work that benefits the community while helping them learn key job skills. It’s been very enriching for kids who aspire to make a difference and for those who can benefit from seeing the world through new eyes.

We’ve built on this success with a new senior internship program that lets kids shape their interests and passions into an intern role with a business, a school, a professional practice – almost any setting. It’s exciting to see what they choose and how they design roles that can lead directly to good careers.

We also have a school-to-work program, where students have paying jobs. This is perfect for kids who need to work to supplement family income. We’ve set it up so they can earn credits toward graduation while they gain job skills and a real sense of accomplishment.

We’re just 20 miles from New York City, which also gives us access to vocational courses through the local Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Students can get hands-on experience in automotive service, health and beauty, landscaping, sustainable building and a lot more. We select students carefully and pay their tuition and transportation to these programs, and so far it’s working out great.

How many students are taking advantage of these three programs?
Currently, we have about 225 students enrolled every year. It’s a positive start toward our goal of building career readiness for the full spectrum of students in our district.

Change requires strong leadership. How did you build the necessary support to rethink career readiness?
We asked families, teachers and students for feedback as part of our annual survey process. Getting survey input can be tough, so we capture student responses through English classes, a course that everyone has to take. With parents, we choose a time of year we think will be ideal to reach out and we promote the survey widely. About 60% of parents share their opinions with us every time we reach out.

Survey results showed that career readiness mattered very much to students and families. It also revealed that we were missing many opportunities to serve workplace-bound students. When you have data in hand to prove a need, you’re in a good position to work with your school board to obtain the funding and support you need.

With the board behind you, how did you actually build these new initiatives?
I asked our teaching staff: how can we engage these students? What do you think they need most? This is how the broad menu of options we now have began to take shape. We also asked students to contribute their best ideas.

I strive to make it safe for everyone I work with to test things, to reach for things, to fail – spectacularly, even. I’ve seen a move away from risk-taking in education, but I know that innovation is absolutely necessary. You can’t create change without it.

What is one of the bolder ideas you considered or tested?
Every school district has its share of families who struggle financially. Kids often work to contribute, and along the way they learn a lot. They learn the value of a paycheck, the reality of taxes, the need to budget and spend carefully. Why not give them academic credit for the skills they’re gaining?

This is the idea behind our school-to-work program, and I hope we’ll find ways to build on this concept so that working students can feel validated and rewarded for the real-world knowledge they’re gaining.

Looking forward, how will you assure that all students – both college-bound and workplace-bound – will feel well prepared?
Integrating academics and college readiness programs with practical skills and vocational offerings will be our challenge. But I feel confident that our teachers and our kids will lead the way.

One of the greatest things about my job is spending time with young people. Despite the critical things you hear about youth, I find they’re great to be around. When you treat them with respect, they will tell you what they hope for, what they believe in, and what they truly feel they need.

Education Reinventors, powered by HP, is a virtual, national community of U.S. superintendents reimagining education leadership in the new normal. We enable superintendents to connect, discuss shared challenges, and brainstorm solutions to improve outcomes for students and community members.

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