Building a career development continuum
Fraser Public Schools has strengthened its commitment to empowering student success following graduation by providing age-appropriate career awareness, exploration, and training opportunities across a K-12 continuum with new learning opportunities for younger students.
In order for the future Ramblers of Fraser High School to get prepared for their career pathway training provided through a selection of 17 different State Approved Career & Technical Education programs housed at FHS, it is critical for kids to begin the awareness process in elementary school while ensuring vibrant opportunities exist for exploration at the middle school level. Throughout the 20222023 school year, efforts have been made to inspire 6th graders across Fraser’s six elementary schools to get excited about learning technical skills & the Richards Middle School staff have united around redesigning our CTE offerings for the Noble Knights of RMS.
Students across Fraser Public Schools were provided an opportunity to gain awareness about the career pathways they could pursue after high school & the courses they can explore next year at Richards Middle School as part of celebrating CTE Month in Michigan with 6th Grade Career Fairs hosted in each of our six elementary schools. Under the leadership CTE Administrative Assistant Mrs. Rosa VanBibber & Career Navigators Mr. Robert Boyd, Mr. George Hammer, & Ms. Jacqlyn Webb, Ramblers worked with CTE teachers to develop activities that were age appropriate to help our youngsters understand how to begin crafting the skills necessary to achieve success in our community. Student leaders from across the Fraser High School Career & Technical Education program offered interactive experiences for students to have fun with while learning about careers in healthcare, education, industrial trades, business, marketing, culinary arts, programming, cybersecurity, & more.
Students enjoyed exploring welding with an augmented reality welding simulator. Youngsters followed the coaching of their FHS mentors to make corrections during each weld while others watched the progress on a large screen & cheered their classmates along. Engineering, robotics, & design projects were on display thanks to our team of Square One underwater drone operators & FIRST Robotics competitors. It was impressive to hear how familiar some 6th graders already were with components used in these robotic assemblies. Our Future Teachers challenged youngsters to view the critical roles in the education market a bit differently with fun activities where they praised their instructors for all of the extra things it takes to be a great teacher. HOSA Future Healthcare Professionals helped kids understand & attempt performing CPR while challenging others through playing Operation. CyberPatriots helped kids explore programming through using Spheros to traverse courses on the gym floor while explaining the advantages of learning cybersecurity fundamentals to better protect yourself online. Our DECA students even helped connect students with the value of marketing as kids collected cash with their teachers’, principals’, & district leadership’s faces on the bills!
Ultimately, our 6th graders had a great time starting the conversation about who they hope to become while they explore the resources & courses available across Fraser Public Schools that will lead them toward that goal.
Efforts to improve career exploration opportunities for kids at the middle school level has also been a focus on this school year. Richards Middle School staff have been reworking curriculum to ensure that the 20-week courses offered in grades 7 & 8 reflect the career pathway training options provided at FHS. RMS students will now be empowered with the following choices for career exploration:
• Computer Literacy
• Introduction to Coding
• Consumer Science Exploration
• Industrial Technology Exploration
• Drafting
• Art
8th graders were invited to participate in additional career exploration throughout their Fall semester by
attending Lunch N’ Learn sessions, hosted by our Career Navigators. These sessions provide the teachers of the FHS CTE programs, along with their student leaders, the opportunity to inspire students to pursue the skills being trained in CTE courses when declaring which 2 career pathways they plan to complete during their time in high school when scheduling for classes at FHS. Projects & activities are explored that help 8th graders start to understand the types of jobs & skills they will have access to following training. Students learn about the Career Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) they can join including FIRST Robotics, DECA, CyberPatriot, National Technical Honor Society, SkillsUSA, & HOSA Future Healthcare Professionals while they enjoy a pizza lunch together. We even hosted a celebration for the 30 students who attended all of the lunch & learns we offered to gather their feedback on how we can improve these events from these future leaders.
Following Holiday Break, all 8th graders were invited to experience the CTE Expo over 4 days at Fraser High School. The first 2 days of the visit are designed for students to become aware of all of the different programs they are able to choose from while taking brief tours of everything that is offered while meeting the teachers & being led by a group of CTE All-star students. Next, they are surveyed to learn which 2 career pathways they desire to explore the most on their next visits. The last 2 days allow students to stay submerged in the classrooms & labs they indicated as being the career pathways they hope to pursue after high school. These visits allow kids to try welding, cooking, sewing, & much more sitting side-byside with experienced FHS students who help them understand how to navigate the program when they get to high school. This peer mentorship component is crucial in giving kids an understanding of what to expect from CTE training at Fraser High School. Students and parents then schedule for their Freshmen year following one last visit during 8th Grade Family Night once they are equipped with the knowledge they need to choose career pathways for themselves.
Richards Middle Schools also welcomed two CTSOs for students to enjoy this school year. CyberPatriot is a cyber defense competition sponsored by the Air Force Association (AFA), which sets high school and middle school groups into a position to manage the network of a small company. Teams are tasked with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities. “This year, there were only 5 middle school teams from the state of Michigan and Richards Middle School was one of them,” added instructor/ advisor Mrs. Christina Vrzovski. “I am proud that our Middle School students had an opportunity to participate, and I hope they will continue to compete when they are in high school. The experience the students received from competing is priceless. They learned team building, communicating, researching, problem solving, and even applying new strategies they developed, just to name a few. Students experienced valuable lessons in work ethics as well as cybersecurity techniques that can be used to protect themselves both digitally and physically.”
RMS also hosted a chapter of HOSA Future Healthcare Professionals for the first time. RMS teacher Mrs. Darcy Fissette & FHS Health Science teacher Sue Garman committed to serving as advisors for this group. They assigned FHS student liaisons Jazlyn Wooten & Sophie Meyer to help corral 14 members for this brand new chapter & the only of its kind currently in Macomb County. Eight members competed in the HOSA Regional Competition hosted at Fraser High School & all eight are going to the State Convention!
As our 6th graders prepare for Richards Middle School & our 8th graders prepare to become Ramblers of Fraser High School, we are grateful to have such amazing staff members who are thrilled to help students begin to find their professional purpose. While this journey will take years to come to fruition, students in Fraser Public Schools have every chance to achieve success based on the opportunities that are laid out in front of them.