Hastings High School teachers got a closer look at what local employers expect from the next generation workforce.
As part of the district’s Pathway Program, teachers recently spent time with local businesses to learn more about career opportunities and the skills students need to succeed before the start of the new school year.
Assistant Principal and Pathway Lead Chris Moore says the district worked with the local Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce to connect teachers with six local businesses.
“Yeah, we’ve been working very closely with Kristy Barse, our Chamber, in developing a Pathways team of businesses that our teachers have been able to learn from. And in that discussion, we had six businesses that really stepped up and said, “We’d like to have our teachers from the high school come in, learn more about their positions that are there, the skills for success that they’re looking for, based on our skills for success document that we had put together.
So, we worked very closely with the Chamber, and we had teachers go to Precision Landscape, Ardent Mills, Intek Plastic, Confluence, Carpenter Nature Center, and Hastings Public House and Golf, and they had the opportunity to choose two locations to spend an hour with each of those businesses and learn more about the pieces that they’re looking for as far as the skills for success that we can teach within our classroom.”
Moore says two skills stood out during those conversations: communication and time management.
“The skill that they’re looking for the most with our students is communication and time management. We heard over and over again from our businesses that students need to have the ability to communicate with their boss, communicate with the public as they come into those businesses, or even communicate with each other and just share the ideas and everything they’re doing. They’re finding there’s a little bit of a gap there, so we’ve learned we have to do a little bit more within our courses on teaching kids the ability to communicate and the comfort of giving a presentation, talking in front of their peers, and doing more with that.”
Moore pointed out that employers are also looking for students who are reliable, punctual, and able to focus on their work.
“The other thing that we heard pretty strongly from all the businesses. Time management. They want to make sure that they are reliable employees. That they’re not calling in sick or showing up late, not on their cell phones, and really able to sit down and do the work that they need to do and be reliable employees. So that’s another piece we’re going to work very closely with our students on, is the importance of being good time managers, being punctual, being on time, and using time wisely when they’re here at school with us. Those lessons are now making their way into the classroom.
Teachers reviewed their courses and identified the skills students are already developing, along with opportunities to strengthen those skills. When our teachers came back, we got them back together and started talking about some of the skills that the businesses were highlighting. Then we looked for the skills that we are already using within our classrooms, and so I had the teachers go through each of their courses and identify two to three areas or skills that they think they are utilizing within their classrooms, and are we giving the right experiences? Are we giving the students the chance to show and learn from those experiences? And so they sat down, and just so the community knows, our skills are adaptability, dependability, critical thinking, flexibility, problem-solving, teamwork and collaboration, creative thinking, independence, time management, perseverance, and communication, and so they had the chance to sit down and really look at what skills are they targeting within their classes.
We know that we all work on them all the time, but what other ones are they really looking to help students hone and master? And so they sat down, explored those, looked at the opportunities the kids had to work with those skills to show their competency with those skills, and then also working with the business. We now have interview questions that we can work with students on to show and highlight that they have mastery of those skills.”
Moore explained the business connections also could lead to more hands-on opportunities for students, including job shadowing, internships, and externships. Moore says one example could involve the high school’s marketing program working with a local business on a real-world project.
“Our marketing class is really looking at can we team with Intek Plastics marketing team, learn from them, and have some experiences that way, and then the goal for the future is: if we have a local business that needs a marketing plan, can they come to us and say, ‘Hey, we’re looking at increasing our social media awareness. What can the students do to help us come up with a marketing plan for that?’ And we can be that resource for our community, giving kids some real experiences.”
And that’s the goal of the Pathway Program to help students explore their interests and gain real-world experience before they graduate.
Moore says students aren’t locked into one pathway. Instead, they can explore different career areas and build a foundation for whatever comes next.
“So the Pathway Program is really looking at how can we help our kids explore their passions and their interests, and then if they find that, go deeper into it.”
Moore says the program could also help students earn industry credentials while they’re still in high school, making them more prepared and more marketable when they enter the workforce.
After teachers spent time learning from local businesses, Moore says there’s a lot of energy heading into the new school year.
“I’ve seen the excitement of our teachers after going through this week of workshops and getting out in the community and getting ready for our students. The excitement has never been stronger. So this is going to be a fantastic year. It’s going to be a year where we’re learning right alongside the students. What do the students need, and how do we go and find those experiences for kids? How do we work with our community to bring real life and valuable experiences into our classrooms? And so this is, we’ve just stepped our toes into the water, but it’s going to be fun and exciting to see where this all goes and the great opportunities that our students and community will have as a result of all of this.”
For more information, check out the ISD 200 Pathways website.
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