Freshman and Careers (A New Kind of Senior Year?)

Freshman and Careers (A New Kind of Senior Year?)

By CRTC Director Steve Rothenberg

Last Tuesday the CTRC hosted a short assembly for freshman.  The goal was to begin some dialogue on career pathways and to make students aware of opportunities in the CRTC.  The CRTC mostly serves juniors and seniors, but every year we do accept a few sophomores.

A few of our programs, including Construction Trades, Culinary & Pastry Arts, and Teacher Preparation, are exploring three year models for a handful of students.  Students would start as sophomores, complete the core two years, and then, if they choose, design a personalized third (senior) CRTC year (some student may also choose to finish their two CRTC years and stop there).

Much has been written on a national level about how the current senior year model, for many students, is not connected to a student's chosen transitional goals and therefore is not relevant enough.  The year becomes a task and many students lose educational momentum.

A new senior year model could involve an intensive internship in the field.  It also could involve taking our personalized English class (Career Communications CRTC) where students work on career-based writing, communication and presentation skills with all projects completed in the context of their specific CRTC career pathway.  Students may also consider taking a CCSNH course to form a high school - college hybrid year.  Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO’s) are also in the mix.

This new mix of proposed experiences provides some energy around “what could be.”  But we know at this time, that there is probably only a handful of students who see this as appealing or as potentially part of their plan.  Extensive career planning is not deeply embedded in our high school culture at this time.  Regardless, these structures are a beginning.  Please feel free to contact me to discuss this further.