Students graduating from the Tyrone Area High School should have a good idea of what they want to do with their lives thanks to early initiatives for career building.
According to Gail Nale, high school guidance counselor, students begin exploring career opportunities in sixth grade. This year, the elementary school implemented a Career Guidance Activity Club that all students rotate through for nine weeks.
She said actual career guidance begins when the students reach the middle school. There, Quest classes are administered for nine weeks for seventh and eighth graders.
Nale said in eighth grade, students identify their career interests and aptitudes, along with learning how to use the Internet to explore careers.
The students take a computer-based interest inventory and aptitude test receive a computer-generated report that links their interests and aptitudes to career clusters and jobs from the U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook.
When the students reach ninth grade, they are asked to “job shadow” someone in a local community.
Yesterday, students went to more than 25 locations in the Tyrone, Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Warriors Mark area to watch people at work.
Nale said earlier this year, ninth graders were surveyed in Richard Merryman’s and Leah Dobrowolsky’s ninth grade English classes. They identified three to five career clusters that interested them and were then matched up with participating businesses.
Career clusters include agriculture, architecture and civil engineering, automotives, business management, banking, construction, computer careers, cosmetology, elementary education, food service, graphic design, journalism, law enforcement, local government, hospital-based careers, pharmacy, and veterinary science.
“I really enjoyed it,” said 15-year-old Alexis Pazmino, who “job shadowed” The Daily Herald’s sports editor Bob Miller and staff writer Sam Zema.
“You really get to see people out working in the real world.”
In tenth and eleventh grades, students complete surveys provided by a national organization regarding potential college or vocational school interests. Students then receive informational literature from colleges that match their interests.
In eleventh grade, students can also participate in the annual Rotary Career Fair held in Altoona at the Jaffa Mosque.
Students in eleventh and 12th grade can sign up to meet with vocational schools and colleges that make visits each year to Tyrone Area High School.
