What might high school career readiness look like if those career experiences were designed by the students themselves? Each year, the students in the Consortium’s Future Ready Leaders (FRL) program tackle that very question. Working alongside teachers and counselors, students draw on their own experiences and expertise to co-create career-related learning opportunities for their peers. Projects aim to support students in growing their employability skills, their exposure to career pathways and possibilities, and ultimately, the design of meaningful career plans. Throughout the year, FRL students gather to share their project ideas, receive feedback from other district teams, and bolster their own career-related learning.
This year, Future Ready Leaders kicked off with its first cross-district meet-up at Penn State University’s Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport. More than 70 students from 10 districts rotated through lively table conversations with professionals from a diverse range of industries, spanning robotics to film to healthcare and infrastructure.
Business and community partners discussed their careers, post-secondary pathways, what their organizations do, and the opportunities in their industries. Students not only had the opportunity to practice the soft skills that employers often say are lacking in candidates, but they also gained a better understanding of what career pathways might lie beyond high school and post-secondary completion.
Students leveraged these conversations to inform their project ideas, as well as expand their network for future school partnerships.
Up next: In January, students will explore career pathways firsthand when they visit business and post-secondary institutions across the region!
The Consortium’s Future Ready Leaders program would like to thank the following organizations for participating:
- ARM Institute
- Catalyst Connection
- CREATE PA/Pittsburgh Film Office
- Ebara Elliott Energy
- Green Building Alliance
- Mascaro Construction
- Partner4Work
- PennDOT
- Premier Automation
- University of Pittsburgh
- UPMC
- Wabtec
