Creating a Robust Career-Connected Learning System

Kristi Leonard serves as liaison at Frontier High School encouraging students to participate in and connecting them with career-focused opportunities through the Building Bridges to Careers network. She mentors student ambassadors, such as Destiny and Chelsea, who have taken the Initiative within their school to spread a message of “positivity” through a Teen Institute designed for peers. The Institute focuses on issues related to mental health and projects the message: “Strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others.”

“Tasha Werry is inspiring a collective vision to create, support and expand a network of contiguous rural schools to assess, redesign, and align their individual career-connected deep learning efforts.”

-Paul Cynkar, Evaluator, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation

Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) has been working since 2012 to bridge the gap between education and employment in southeastern Ohio’s Washington County by coordinating career development efforts between the schools and the community. Over time, with support from the Jennings Foundation, the organization has developed multiple programs that connect students, parents, and teachers to local businesses and employers. It has also designed professional development opportunities to involve teachers in “career connected” deep learning efforts. Ultimately, BB2C’s goal is to inform students of the variety of career options available and connect them to job shadowing and internship opportunities that offer invaluable experience they would not get otherwise. Embedded in the work is a reciprocal benefit to the community – a skilled, locally-sourced workforce that is prepared to meet the needs and expectations of area businesses.

Career development needs to be moved from the wings to center stage in schools, says Tasha Werry, Director of Career Resources and Outreach, Marietta City Schools and Executive Director, BB2C, explaining that the organization is working to coordinate, not duplicate, career development efforts in the region. “Through the connections that are made and the information we provide, we are able to help our students experience success and our communities prosper.”

Building Upon a Portrait of a Graduate

In July 2019, six Washington County school districts, in conjunction with Washington County’s Career Center, completed a collaborative, county-wide Portrait of a Graduate facilitated by Battelle for Kids. This work identified six competencies all Washington County graduates should exhibit to be successful in a 21st century world: civic literacy, communication, self/goal-directed, responsibility, integrity, and critical thinking. The process was informed by more than 300 individuals, representing businesses, higher education, community leaders, parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

“Working with all six districts in the county, we want to build systems around these student outcomes,” Dr. Werry says. Last summer, each district identified and set career-connected learning goals and strategic activities for the upcoming school year. A grant from the Jennings Foundation provided funding so that each individual district would have an embedded BB2C liaison to support the implementation of these goals within their schools and to help students and teachers access the broad array of BB2C learning opportunities available.

District Liaison Kristi Leonard works with student ambassadors at Frontier High School in New Matamoras.

Kristi Leonard, a middle school math teacher at Frontier Local Schools in New Matamoras, returned to her Ohio hometown after spending 25 years as a teacher and entrepreneur in California. She took on the liaison role in her district because she wanted to provide her students, who live in a very isolated, low socio-economic area, “a ticket to connect to the outside world.” Ms. Leonard works with high school students daily through BB2C and says her district has totally “jumped on board” with the program. She is passionate about the work because she recognizes how significantly the support she received at that age contributed to her success. “Our resources here are very limited,” she explains, “so I reach out to the community for help.” That has meant raising money to transport her students to job fairs, internships, and shadowing experiences because most lack transportation to get there on their own. “By getting students to Marietta I am able to open up their eyes to all possibilities out there,” she continues. “Last year (2018-19), we had 24 field trips to businesses, to the Maker Space, to internships, and to job shadowing.”

“The goal of educators is for students to be successful once they graduate,” remarks Tonya Davis, BB2C Program Facilitator, who has worked with the organization since 2013 and coordinates activities with the six county liaisons, such as Ms. Leonard. “In order for that to happen, students need the skills of Portrait of a Graduate, and they need experiences to develop those skills. That’s what our programming provides. We provide the experiences for everyone to stay connected and to lift the kids up and support them so they can achieve their dreams.”   

A student participates in Discover Engineering Day at Washington State Community College. The event acquaints students with the various types of engineering career options and allows them to network with professionals in the field.

While the 2019-2020 academic year was suddenly disrupted, Dr. Werry explains that the program experienced much success before school buildings were closed. Interviews with BB2C liaisons at the end of the school year, data collected from participants and stakeholders, and interviews with student ambassadors all showed evidence of positive impact. In working with teachers, liaisons supported problem-scenario PD and implementation, expanded awareness across all grades K-12, maintained open channels of communication with building and district administration, and linked students to job shadowing and internships. They were also able to connect students and teachers to Family Career Awareness Day; Discover Days; Mid-Ohio Valley Entrepreneur Expo; Junior Pro Pitch; Career Mentor Program; Student Ambassadors; Career Connect Job Fair; In-Demand Jobs Week; and the BB2C Makerspace.

Students participating in Operator Training Committee of Ohio internship. The high school students were trained to capture local water assets using GPS (drains, water meters, etc.) and were responsible for uploading the information into GIS systems.

Before COVID-19 shuttered businesses in the state, 158 students participated in job shadowing experiences and 25 were placed in internships. Popular industries included health sciences; human services; agriculture, food, and natural resources; architecture and construction; and arts, AV technology, and communication.

For all the accomplishments, Dr. Werry acknowledges that creating a robust career connected learning system across a large geographic and diverse county is challenging.

“Flexibility is the key to all of this work,” she states in the grant project’s Final Report. And that flexibility has been paramount in the midst of the pandemic. 

“We want to continue the work of supporting the development of career connected learning systems in the school districts and increasing student participation,” Dr. Werry adds, affirming her belief that the initiative will continue to move forward. “The challenge, of course, will be adapting to what school will look like in the fall and throughout the year. We are currently surveying businesses to find out their desire and capacity for working with students - either in-person or virtually - and will use this information to plan accordingly. Also, school personnel in general are overwhelmed with the disruption, so we need to be sensitive to that, while also not letting career connected learning fall off of the plate completely. 

“The Portrait of a Graduate process that we completed with involvement from a wide swath of people across the county clarified the goals for our county, and each district demonstrated commitment in creating local goals and strategies,” she continues. “These goals are still in place and are still relevant - despite COVID. Knowing this and having this foundation in place paves the way for continuing to build learning opportunities for all students that genuinely connect them with community adults and local, viable career options.”