Whiter Paper | Workforce Literacy
What does it look like at City High?
FROM THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE: In 9th grade I remember the career class was going over a lot about what a “professional person” does, like how you are supposed to dress, how you act, how you speak. We also started researching what kinds of careers we might be interested in. My career plans have really changed because of the conversations I have had with teachers here. They expose you to a lot more options. They can relate what you want out of life and what you like to do to different jobs.
In 10th grade you do a lot of interviews and sometimes you have to be the employer. Being on the other side, that really helped me understand how an interview works. When we were doing the interviews, some people would deliberately be rude or be shy. First we would get the resumes and you would see if there is a grammatical error on there, what a bad impression that makes even before they come in. Iʼll always remember I had “Roxanne” as an interviewee and she was really rude, she answered her phone during the interview, she stuck her gum on the paper. It was bad. But that definitely taught me what not to do.
Also in 10th we did a big project planning your future, where you might live, how much it would cost, making a budget. It broadened your horizons to think about it that way. We are actually setting up our future. This is the school I want to go to. This is the GPA I need. I need to cover up my tattoos and not wear too much make-up. They taught us how to be professional and brought us closer to being able to do what we want to do.