Notes
Slide 1 - Hello school board, administration, parents, teachers, and all other stakeholders of the
Pine Richland School district that came to listen to my presentation this evening. I really
appreciate it. I know you have a lot of other things you could be doing and you have busy lives
but it means a lot to me that you would dedicate some time to be here tonight to listen about this
important topic in our student’s lives. I am here to propose to you a career development program
for students at Pine Richland High School here in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.
Slide 2-
The career development program I am proposing to you is called “College isn’t the only option”.
It is for the juniors of Pine Richland High School. It is not for every single 11th grader. It is
specifically targeting juniors who have no plans for college and do not know what they want to
do in life after high school. Some of you may be thinking who the heck is this guy, he must be
crazy, where did Pine Richland find him, he needs to go. Ha-ha and I do not blame you but I
hope you will hear me out over the next few minutes and give me a chance with what I present to
you and the facts I back it up with. I am in no way saying college is bad or that our students
should not go to college. I am a big advocator for college and I think it is a great experience for
our students if they know what they want to do in life. I went to college and graduated with my
bachelor’s and master's. I think college gives students an opportunity to do what they want to in
life if what they want to do requires a college degree. With that said, college is not universal, it is
not for everyone. Not all careers require a college degree. And in 2022 coming off a global
pandemic like Covid, employers and industries are readjusting the requirements to get a job in a
lot of fields. It involves a lot more on-the-job training and learning as you go and less learning in
the classroom and test-taking. Many careers do not require a 4, 6, or 8-year degree anymore. I
am talking about careers where our students can be making 6 figures eventually, not minimum
wage jobs like fast food or retail, where most people get the life sucked out of them and do not
enjoy going to work every day. In a recent survey from the Kauffman Foundation, employers
surveyed are saying that candidates’ previous internship and technical certifications are very or
somewhat influential in hiring decisions. And, almost half of employers say they are moving
away from a four-year degree as criteria for hiring, compared to looking at candidates’
experience (Mays, 2021). What I want to show you today is that it is okay for students to not go
to college if they do not know what they want to do in life or if their desired career does not
require college. Our job as a school and my job as their counselor is to help them figure out what
they want to do in life and then show them there are options other than college to have a
fulfilling career that pays very well.
Slide 3- The strategy used to develop this career program for this target group is twofold. It is the
number of students leaving high school who either do not know what they want to do in life or
just go to college to say they went to college but do not really know why they are going to
college. The other part of the strategy is that employers are not only looking at a college degree
anymore when hiring. 84% of white-collar employers are open to hiring someone who only
graduated high school, and has not attended college (Scheidegger, 2019). Especially if that
person has relevant experience in the field they are applying to (Scheidegger, 2019). 76% of
white-collar employers have actually hired someone that does not have a college degree
(Scheidegger, 2019). The purpose of this career development proposal is to give students more
options after high school than just college.
The needs assessment used is a survey given to all 11th graders to see if they plan on attending
college after high school and if they know what career they are interested in after high school.
The target population for the career development program at Pine Richland High School are
juniors who have no plans for college and do not know what they want to do in life after high
school.
The rationale for this program is that career and college readiness planning in high school helps
students transition smoothly when they leave high school and go to the real world (Bhat &
Stevens, 2021). The career development theory this program is based on is Holland’s Theory of
Types and Person-Environment Interactions also called the Trait and Factor Theory. Holland’s
theory has helped people make the right decision about their careers (Reardon, 2017). Holland’s
theory states that people have certain personality traits and interests and that there are work
environments that match those personality traits and interests (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2021).
People should not be working in an environment that does not match their personality and in
turn, does not bring them happiness and fulfillment (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2021). The
program being implemented at Pine Richland High School will do just that for students. It will
help them figure out what they want to do after high school. It will show them that they do not
have to go to college to work at a career they do not want to do just because society says so.
There are other options if going to college and certain careers do not interest them.
Slide 4- There are six standards this program will be based on. It will be based on three National
Career Development Guidelines and three ASCA standards. The three NCDG standards are Goal
CM2: Use a process of decision-making as one component of career development.
Goal CM3: Use accurate, current, and unbiased career information during career planning and
management. The third is Goal CM4: Master academic, occupational, and general employability
skills in order to obtain, create, maintain, and/or advance your employment (National Career
Development Association, 2007).
Slide 5- The three ASCA mindset and behavior standards are M4- Self-Confidence in Ability to
Succeed (American School Counseling Association, 2021). B-SMS 5. Perseverance to achieve
long-and short-term goals (American School Counseling Association, 2021). Finally, B-LS 9.
Decision-making informed by gathering evidence, getting others’ perspectives, and recognizing
personal bias (American School Counseling Association, 2021). This program will follow all 6
of those standards.
Slide 6- Those six standards can be summed up in three learning objectives students will take
with them when completing this program which will last the whole school year. By the end of the
first year of the program, the students will learn these three objectives. First, make the right
decisions for their career by researching those careers, having knowledge of what careers they
may like and dislike, and confirming those thoughts with family and people around them they
trust. Second, have the perseverance and self-confidence to succeed in the real world as an adult.
Third, understand the skills it takes to pursue the careers they are interested in doing and that
they do not necessarily have to go to college to get a job in that field.
Slide 7- As you can see, each slide and each point I have been making have been building on
each other with evidence to back it up. Now I will show you four interventions for the three
learning objectives we just went over. These interventions will address the needs of the juniors
who do not want to go to college and do not know what they want to do in life after high school.
It will teach them the objectives and standards that we went over previously. The first
intervention is a career tech day. Beattie Tech is a career center over in Allison Park that works
with nine different school districts including Pine Richland (A.W. Beattie Career Center, 2022).
They offer 20 different programs to allow students to become ready for the real world and a
career after high school (A.W. Beattie Career Center, 2022). Their programs include carpentry,
HVAC, construction, cosmetology, culinary, robotics, and so many more (A.W. Beattie Career
Center, 2022). They will come in for the day and do an assembly in the morning for the students
talking about who they are, what they do, and what they can offer the students. Then they will set
up stations or workshops throughout the school with the different programs they offer. The
students will have a chance to go to each station, ask questions to the teachers, and even try some
of the stuff they would be doing at Beattie Tech. This is a great hands-on experience to give
students ideas and options on what they can do after high school. Beattie Tech will also have
information for the students to take home and think about if they want to attend during their high
school career. They offer a program where they can take the mandatory classes to get a diploma
at Pine- Richland during the morning, then get on a bus and go to Beattie Tech and learn about
different careers in the afternoon. Students who attend Beattie Tech get experience and training
to get a job in their preferred field after high school or they have the option to go to college to
attain more education and training in the field they experienced.
Slide 8- Career intervention #2 is building a career resource center in the Pine Richland High
School. We would find a vacated room or create one. Then we would add computers, printers,
paper, career assessments, and a web-based service that would have all the career and college
information students would need to get ideas to figure out what they want to do in life after high
school. The career resource center would help them become as knowledgeable as possible about
career options and what they can do after high school. There will be information about Beattie
Tech, filling out the FAFSA for college, and anything career or college-related that would
become helpful to students. The center would mainly focus on students who do not know what
they want to do after high school but it will have a dual purpose of helping students research
colleges and finalize things for college.
Slide 9 – Career Intervention #3 for the students would be job shadowing. For the students who
do not know what they want to do after high school, there will be opportunities to shadow
someone doing a career they think they may want to do in the future. We will have them take
some different career assessments beforehand to get them thinking. The job shadowing will also
happen after the Beattie Tech day and after they visit the career resource center. This will give
the students a glimpse into the day-to-day experience of the career they are possibly interested in.
This intervention can confirm or deny for them if the career they shadowing is something they
want to pursue.
Slide #10- The final career intervention is group counseling. As with the other interventions this
will be for students who do not know what they want to do after high school. They can support
each other, ask questions, do skill and career assessments together, visit the career resource
center together, and figure out what they want to do after high school together. Research has
proven that group work affords students meaningful relationships that nurture learning and
growth (Bhat & Stevens, 2021). Group discussion and sharing personal stories are important in
enhancing career decision-making and adaptability (Bhat & Stevens, 2021). Group work in
schools precisely focused on career development is beneficial as it offers a space for students to
express themselves as well as accelerate their building of career-life stories in training for
crossover into their professional lives from high school (Bhat & Stevens, 2021).
Slide 11- This program will be delivered and implemented in different ways depending on which
intervention we are implementing. Once a month we will meet with each 11th-grade homeroom
during their mandatory study hall. We will take the juniors who are in the program to the career
resource center. We will let them research, ask questions, and work on making progress towards
finding their career. We will answer questions about anything they have from Beattie Tech to
career assessment results and everything in between. The students that are in small groups will
meet once a week during lunchtime. The career tech days and job shadowing will be once-a-year
events. Beattie Tech will come in for the whole day and do an assembly and also have workshops
students can come and try different careers they are interested in on that day (A.W. Beattie
Career Center, 2022). For job shadowing students can pick a career they think they will really
enjoy and we will set up a day with one of our volunteers for them to come to their work and
shadow them. We will have all the clearances and permission signed by the parents ahead of
time. School counselors will also do one-on-one interviews with students who need extra
assistance. The school counselors will consult and collaborate on these interventions with the
administration, teachers, parents, Beattie Tech, and the volunteers that are allowing students to
shadow them at their job.
Slide 12- To promote the program to the students, family, and stakeholders we will market the
program in multiple ways. Communication is key in letting everyone know that it is available.
The school counseling department will send out emails to parents, teachers, administration,
school board, and all other stakeholders about the career development program. The email will
let them know what the program is, what students it is for, and what it offers the students. We
will also send flyers home with the students for parents to see. We will post flyers on the doors of
classrooms, the guidance office, and bulletin boards around the school. We will have someone
talk about it during morning announcements. We will also have homeroom teachers tell students
and post it on their announcements on the class website. I will come to a school board meeting
and talk about it with the stakeholders there to get the word out.
Slide 13- This is the flyer sent home with students and is also posted around the school.
Slide 14-
The school counselors have worked hard to not make this a huge cost for the school district and
the taxpayers. A lot of the resources are free because we already have them and can move things
around or from the kind parents and community members that are willing to donate their time.
The resources we will need to make this program possible include a donated room in the school
to make into the Career Resource Center. That would be free because we already own the space
in the school. The program needs school counselors and their time allocated during the month to
run the program and resource center. That is free during the school day because they are already
paid to be at school. It is possible they need to work overtime in the evenings or come in during
the summer which would be $200 a day per counselor. The materials to make the donated room
into a career resource center like computers, printers, paper, and a web-based career development
program would be $3,000. It would cost $1,000 for Beattie Tech to come and do the assembly for
the students. The job shadowing would be free because we have volunteer parents and
community members willing to do it to make a lasting impact on the students’ lives. Finally,
some snacks and refreshments for the small groups of students would be $50.
Slide 15- There will be a few methods I will use to evaluate this program. The variables will
include if the outcome was favorable by helping students figure out what they want to do after
high school and see that they have more options than just college. The learning objectives being
evaluated will include all three that the program was based upon. Students learning to make the
right decisions for their careers by researching those careers, having knowledge of what careers
they may like and dislike, and confirming those thoughts with family and people around them
they trust. Students having the perseverance and self-confidence to succeed in the real world as
an adult. Students understanding the skills it takes to pursue the careers they are interested in
doing and that they do not necessarily have to go to college to get a job in that field. The forms
of evaluation I will use are a questionnaire, an exit interview with students, Holland’s SDS test,
and a follow-up study after they graduate high school. The questionnaire, the exit interview, and
Holland’s SDS test will all be given to students at the end of their junior year when they finish
their program to evaluate how they did and what they learned. A follow-up study will be done the
following year a few months after they graduate high school to see if they took what they learned
in the program and put it into practice in finding a career or attending college for something they
want to do in life. All the evaluation methods will have questions based on the learning
objectives and the desired outcome talked about earlier. The follow-up study after they graduate
will be really practical to see if the program helped them. When they entered the program they
did not know what they wanted to do in life after high school and they were not interested in
college at the time. If after high school they found what they wanted to do in life or they
reconsidered college and are now attending but on purpose with the calling on their life then the
program worked. This data from the students will tell us if the program worked, and what we can
do to improve and change it to make it better for the next class of juniors.
Slide 16- This is an example of the self-directed search test by John Holland given to students to
evaluate what they learned in the program.
Slide 17- This is an example of the questionnaire handed out to students to evaluate what they
learned during the program.
Slide 18- That is the end of my career development proposal for 11th graders who do not know
what they want to do after high school and have no plans to attend college called “College isn’t
the only option”. Thank you all for your time and for listening. I greatly appreciate it. Please let
me know if you have any questions. I have my contact information on the slide. I will be more
than happy to answer them.
