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High schools emphasize firsthand job experience A recent article gave an overview of the School to Career program at Thousand Oaks, Westlake and Newbury Park high schools. Readers learned that the comprehensive program exposes students to various occupations and helps them determine what fields they might like to pursue in college to find a career. Firsthand job experience is one of the most valuable aspects of the School to Career program. Through field trips, job shadowing and internships, students gain a clear understanding of the requirements and actual duties of a particular occupation. The program at each school is unique, but all involve some form of direct work experience. Field trips may include visits to hospitals for those interested in healthcare and to Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for those considering careers in space exploration technology. Through job shadowing, participants spend several hours at a local business. A student is matched to an employer in his or her field of choice. The experience is an introduction to the realities of the job. Internships offer a more indepth, hands-on experience. A 30hour internship is required of each student. Local businesses welcome students to spend several hours a day after school working in various capacities. "Students learn about the company, the industry, what skills and education they need and what the job outlook is," said Laurie Looker, School to Career coordinator at Westlake High School. The schools provide job and internship postings but students are encouraged to secure the positions on their own. The program does provide resume and interview training. Job postings and requirements are reviewed with employers/mentors. For example, an elementary school aide would complete a semester with a class. "The internship experiences often end up becoming part-time jobs for students," said Mark Butzko, School to Career coordinator at Thousand Oaks High School. Westlake High School senior Ben Radler, 17, discovered through School to Career that he wants to major in computer engineering at Cal Poly and hopes to be a video-game designer. In his sophomore year he began studying Web page and graphic design and animation. He did a mentorship at Line 6 and held jobs at a Macintosh sales and repair center, starting the PC division of the company. He worked at Best Buy as a computer technician and then at Apple Computer. "I knew I wanted to do something with computers, but School to Career put me on track," Ben said. Ben's dad, Robert, is a freelance film director and producer who's mentored students from the Westlake School to Career program for several years. He's also participated in the school's round-table speaker programs, talking about careers in video and filmmaking. "I can identify two or three kids each time who ask questions that are so intense, so right on, that I can tell they're seriously considering this type of career," Robert Radler said. He got into the business through a college professor who he says pointed him in the direction of filmmaking, and he tries to give students a realistic view of what it's like to make a living at filmmaking. "It's not always glamorous," said Radler, recalling a film that called for an actor to throw up. "We had to create a prop for that and consider what it looked like, what color it was." The three School to Career coordinators work hard at finding local businesses to participate in the program. To help promote it, Butzko, Looker and Kelley Stone, the Newbury Park High School to Career program coordinator, are involved in the Thousand OaksWestlake Regional Chamber of Commerce. Last September, the program was the focus of a Chamber networking breakfast. The three are also part of an area coordinating team that strives to find business partners. The team includes Pepperdine University, Moorpark College, Junior Achievement, United Way and local businesses. "We all work very closely together so we don't overextend our business partner resources," Stone said. Among the companies that participate in the program are California Lutheran University, MBDA Missile Systems, Inc. in Westlake, and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. "The resources we have in our business community are really supportive and we really appreciate it," Looker said. Acorn Bits School to Career programs help students make decisions about the professions they may wish to pursue. |
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