JHS Career Preparation

   Students attending Jackson High School have two great tools to help them decide on a career path and to use that path to guide their choices of high school classes: the Michigan Career Pathways model and the Educational Development Plan (EDP).

Career Pathways

Career Pathways are broad groupings of careers that share similar characteristic and whose employment requirements call for many common interests, strengths, and competencies. The desired outcomes of Career Preparation are student achievement and ultimate success in a career(s) of choice. Meeting the career-related needs of students calls for alignment with career opportunities in the real work world.

Career Pathways provide a useful framework to aid both students and educators in making those meaningful connections to the working world. Six Career Pathways, while not specifically required as presented, have been identified to cover all career opportunities regardless of educational requirements.

* Arts and Communications: careers related to the humanities and the performing, visual, literary, and media arts.

* Business, Management, Marketing, and Technology: careers related to all aspects of business including accounting, business administration, finance, information processing, and marketing.

* Engineering/Manufacturing and Industrial Technology: careers related to technologies necessary to design, develop, install, or maintain physical systems.

* Health Sciences: careers related to the promotion of health as well as the treatment of injuries, conditions, and disease.

* Human Services: includes careers in childcare, civil service, education, hospitality, and the social services.

* Natural Resources and Agriscience: careers related to natural resources, agriculture, and the environment.

Personal aptitudes and interests are important factors as students begin to identify career opportunities. Career Pathways give flexible identity and structure to the student career choice process as well as to educational programs and services that contribute to the career preparation of students. Even though described as part of Career Development, the alignment provided through Career Pathways influences all Career Preparation components including those at the post high school level.

Career Pathways are used: 1) to combine similar careers to assist students in developing an understanding of comprehensive career information and make an initial career choice within a broad grouping of occupations, and 2) in high school to design instruction to afford students opportunities to select a course(s) related to a career pathway that prepares them for either initial workforce entry in a particular career area or to continue their education in a chosen technical field and/or advanced academic and professional studies.

To learn more about Career Pathways, visit the Ferris State University pathways exploration site.

Educational Development Plan (EDP)

Every student in the 8th grade is expected to fill out an EDP. The EDP is a powerful tool, which encourages students to use their high school years most effectively. EDPs enable students and parents to lay out a plan for gaining needed competencies including academic, technical and other proficiencies leading to fulfillment in life.

The EDP is a written plan that sets forth the student’s career goals, identifies ways of attaining those goals, and documents the education, skills and experience required.

Students and their parents should consider the Career Pathways described above when preparing an EDP. The pathways have been created to help students choose a career pathway based on individual occupational interests. Individual pathways will vary according to short and long term goals set by the student and parents, and each will range from earning a high school diploma to attaining a bachelor's degree and beyond.

Students will find that once they have originated an EDP, the logical place to preserve their plan is in the Student Portfolio. The student's individual career plan serves as the“centerpiece” of their own portfolio. Every year the student and parent should visit their EDP and personal portfolio, and update them.

For more information, contact your 8th grade team leader or contact Mr. Eric Baldwin, EDP specialist for JHS at 841-3717 or email at (eric.baldwin@jcisd.org).

The EDP is available online at http://edp.jcisd.k12.mi.us. After opening the EDP home page, select Jackson. You will then be asked for your user name (EDPID) and password.

If you have problems with the EDP system, an online help system is also available. Happy career planning!