K-8 Elementary Career Curriculum
Mossville, Illinois
Contact
Margaret Murphy
Middle School Counselor
Illinois Valley Central District #321
P.O. Box 178
Mossville, Illinois 61552
Phone: 309-579-2328
Fax: 309-579-2168
Email: murphypeg@hotmail.com
Mission
Our mission is to develop self-sufficient, well-educated, and productive members of a global society with the self-esteem, motivation and skill to continue individual growth, solve complex problems, adapt to change, make sound decisions, communicate effectively, and respect cultural and individual differences.
We shall accomplish this through an active partnership among students, staff, parents, and the community, which will provide an educational environment that focuses on quality educational experiences, promotes excellence, uses an innovative curriculum, accommodates the demands of a diverse student population, integrates technological resources, and promotes a dedicated and knowledgeable staff.
Organization
Organization Type: Education Agency, School
Geographical Area: Towns and cities
Primary Setting: Elementary school, Middle or junior high school
Funding: External funding source - State School-to-Work Implementation Grant and Local Education Foundation Grant
Consumers
Target Population: Elementary education students With and without disabilities, Teachers or faculty - Elementary education, Community service providers, Parents, Business people or employer, Teachers or trainers
Disability Areas: Hearing impairment, Mental retardation (Mild, Moderate), Multi-disabled, Severe emotional disturbance/emotional disability/behavior disorder, Specific learning disability, Speech impairment, Visual impairment, Autism, Epilepsy
NTA Framework Categories
Description
A National Education Study of 23,000 eighth graders showed approximately one-third knew little about the world of work and see little connection etween school and their future as workers. This educational and career aimlessness is a primary concern in our district. We have addressed the elementary student’s need to begin developing a sense of direction in his/her educational and career planning with a three-part career curriculum. These ideas are being addressed, not as another thing to be taught separately by the teacher, but as something included in everyday lessons.
Part I. Two major all-school career projects.
In early fall, a career day is planned for K-8th graders. This year our career day theme focused on professionals who use wheeled vehicles in their work. We used a logo for our Career On Wheels (C.O.W.). Needless to say, pictures of cows with wheels as feet created interest. This outside event brought approximately 40 local professionals with the wheeled vehicles used in their career to our school grounds for a day. Every classroom planned activities before C.O.W. which prepared them for the visits with the professionals, and after which gave them the opportunity to share their experiences. This year the classrooms competed to see who could identify the greatest number of jobs necessary to make the Super Bowl a success. To add a job to the class list, the students had to identify the school subjects that would be important to that job. The winning classrooms celebrated with a tailgate party.
Part II. Individual Career Plan
Each year, each K-8th grade student does a career development activity. Each activity produces a document that is filed in the students ‘Individual Career Plan’ (ICP) portfolio. By using a fastener folder, all the materials are kept in chronological order. When students graduate from high school, they are given their ICP, which is the scrapbook of their personal career development and exploration.
Part III. The community and student-to-student connection.
Visitors making presentations are asked to give some background on their training and experiences in their own career development. All students in the high school co-op program are required to make a presentation to a K-6th grade classroom discussing school, their co-op job, and their future goals.
1. The purpose of this program is to develop community, teacher, parent, and student awareness that career development begins in the early years of a child’s life and continues on through adulthood.
2. The career curriculum has brought more of the community into our school. It has high school students communicating and connecting with younger students.
3. Program success has been measured through formal teacher and presenter evaluations, student writings and pictures, community interviewing, and viewing the job lists created as results of the contest. Through the contest, many different jobs are identified and directly related to school subjects.
Evidence of Success
Products
Peggy Murphy is available for consulting and staff development in areas related to ETC curriculum. She has developed many workshops in these areas and provides new and custom assistance to meet the need of the educators. Murphy has received numerous local and state awards for teaching, innovation, and educational leadership. Fees are negotiable, scheduling flexible.