Barking Points: High School 101 Career Search

Pencils scribble and textbook pages fly towards third quarter at Lind-Ritzville Middle School.

In the dead of winter, the weather changes on a day-to-day basis, but Rita Fryberger and Shannon Davis’ high school prep students are forecasting something a bit more long-term than storm clouds or sunshine: their futures. As the windy weather blows by assignments and midterms, Fryberger and Davis’ High School 101 Career Search project helps students mold their plans for the future and prepare them for hastily approaching high school.

The career search project can be summarized as a two-part assignment. Students must first visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and dissect detailed descriptions of various occupations and chose a specific career path that is intriguing to them. Students must then compile information about the career – what do people with this career do, what companies do they work for, how much education is required, etc. – and artfully present their discoveries on a poster. The posters will be displayed in the hallways of Lind-Ritzville Middle School for students outside of high school 101 to analyze.

Like many projects in high school prep, the career search advises students as they plan for the future. Fryberger, who is helping to guide the students towards making their everyday interests a part of their adult careers, said, “Anytime we can open the eyes of a student to a new possibility, we can help them prepare for the future.”

The project is a beneficial resource for students because it not only suggests practical outlines for different career fields, but it also educates students on what their unique journey after high school could look like.

Megan Buriak, a student revolving her career search around being an elementary teacher, said, “It has opened my eyes to new opportunities.”

For Claire Roettger, the career search motivated her to lead the life of a school counselor. “It has made me more excited for the future, and I want to succeed,” she said.

The career search is an efficient tool for preparing students for high school. The class is composed of seventh and eighth grade students who are only months away from taking the plunge into their high school term.

As high school is a critical stepping-stone to an advanced education and the world beyond, middle school is the ideal time for students to form a picture of what they might want to achieve on the next level.

Fryberger said, “Career searches allow students to look and plan ahead for classes that they can take in high school. A lot of students today can also plan out their high school career to better prepare themselves for college classes in their future.”

The career search has helped student Morgan Lane describe her medical field oriented plans into greater detail: “In college classes, I will need to take more advanced classes because it will help me out.”

Davis and Fryberger’s high school prep class is an opportunistic course that many students are using to their advantage. In fact, the career search is far from the end of the students’ future preparations.

“The next step after this research activity is to research a specific college,” Fryberger stated. “Students need to begin preparing for entrance exams, applications, and essays to get into the college that will help prepare them for their chosen career.”