The Genesee Valley School Boards Association presented Avon Central Schools with an Excellence in Student Services Award during its legislative breakfast Saturday at York Central Schools. The award was given in recognition of the district’s career exploration programs and curriculum.
State Sen. Pam Helming (R-Geneva), Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) and Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes (R-Caledonia), who were in attendance at the legislative breakfast, also presented Avon with citations in recognition of its career exploration curriculum.
The district has been making a concerted effort to improve its career exploration offerings to students ever since receiving the results of a comprehensive needs assessment in early 2021.
One of the main takeaways from that assessment, which collected input from administrators, teachers, students, recent graduates and members of the broader Avon community, was the need for more career exploration opportunities.
“That was something that came out loud and clear,” said Superintendent Dr. Ryan Pacatte. “That the community wants us to take a more active role in consistently informing students about future career opportunities… helping kids to understand what resources are available to them, maybe to help them understand themselves a little bit better about what would be a good fit for them and then opportunities to get some hands-on experience and learn more about people in the field.”
At Avon, career exploration instruction begins when students first enter Avon Elementary School as kindergarteners and is tailored to be developmentally appropriate. In elementary school, students create and begin adding to a career exploration packet developed by New York’s Education Department. The packet, which follows students through to graduation, contains a history of each individual student’s career-planning activity and becomes more in-depth as they get older.
Along with the packet, the elementary school counselor does a career lesson with students. This may include career bingo, career scavenger hunt, or some other career-centric game. Through these games, students engage in conversations of what they want to be when they get older and why and learn about different careers that are out there.
At later elementary school grade levels, students begin engaging with specific career paths and learning about what they’d need to do to pursue such a career such as earning a college degree or completing a technical training program.
At the middle school level, students continue to learn about specific careers and also start diving into soft skills and the importance of being college- and career-ready once they graduate.
In addition to exposing students to different careers, staff also introduce students to topics like wellness, digital citizenship, team building and study skills. As a result, students are engaged, and learning more about their own unique abilities as they prepare for their individual futures.
And new this school year, the middle school has begun a career speaker series in the same vein as the Lunch & Learn series, which has enjoyed significant success at the high school level, into the middle school.
Tom Hoyser, general manager of Isaac Heating and Cooling, was the first speaker in the middle school and visited Avon in December to speak with students about careers in heating and air conditioning.
At the high school level, students continue to have access to professionals in a variety of career fields through the ongoing Lunch & Learn series where presenters are chosen based on student feedback of career paths and industries they’re interested in.
Additionally, students have access to two software career exploration platforms - Naviance and Pathful.
Naviance, a web-based college and career readiness platform that connects learning in school to life outside of school. Students can explore colleges and careers, and store documents like recommendations and resumes. Naviance helps provide students with resources to prepare for life after high school.
Pathful, previously known as Nepris, is an online resource that connects teachers and students with professionals in a range of career categories for virtual, in-classroom experiences. Pathful boasts a network of more than 50,000 working professionals and is intended to help widen students’ interests and help them envision themselves in careers they might not otherwise be aware of or consider as an option.
High school staff also organize periodic career days such as the one earlier this year when more than a dozen presenters came to speak with students about their careers in law enforcement, broadcast journalism, the electrical trades, engineering and the arts, among others.
Students also have access to additional and more in-depth career exploration offerings through Genesee Valley BOCES.
“Experiencing our level of personalized learning and career pathways starting in kindergarten increases motivation for students to do well in school and practice those values we teach here at Avon so that they are setting themselves up for success in their future,” said Kerri Levine, Avon’s director of pupil services. “We have been thrilled at how our programs have grown over the past few years and look to provide as many authentic career exploration opportunities as possible for our students in the future.”
Avon was represented at the breakfast by Director of Pupil Services Kerri Levine, Director of Academic Programs Christina Ecklund, Middle School Principal Jennifer Miller and Superintendent Dr. Ryan Pacatte. Avon Board of Education members Rodney George, Beth Peck, Bob DeBruycker and Karen Vanderbilt were also in attendance.
Levine, Miller and Ecklund accepted the award on the district’s behalf.