Career Exploration Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Program Paves Career Pathways For Blind, Deaf Highschoolers

A new program at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind provides students ages 14 and up career prep resources and job training throughout a six-week session.

As college tuition prices continue to rise, West Virginia educators are looking to expand career readiness resources for students who don’t want to pursue a traditional four-year degree.

That’s a mission Clayton Burch said he held as the state’s superintendent of schools from 2020 to 2022. And it’s one that has followed into his current role as superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB).

Providing students with resources for career readiness now means “more than just going to a four-year college,” he said. “We got a lot of students that can come out with the skills right out of high school to enter the workforce.”

But the path to full-time employment can be more complicated for students with disabilities, who often face added barriers to job opportunities, he said.

“What we see is struggles that our deaf, hard of hearing and visually impaired students have. We see higher dropout rates. We see higher unemployment rates,” Burch said. “We don’t believe that’s just a lack of foundational skills. We actually think it’s a gap they have in support.”

To amend this gap, Burch and his colleagues at WVSDB have launched a new initiative: the Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program, which gives deaf and blind high school students a career readiness crash course.

The Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program helps connect deaf and blind high school students with industry leaders in the town of Romney, located in Hampshire County.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Students from across West Virginia can visit Hampshire County to practice job interviews, learn about day-to-day work responsibilities and collaborate with local leaders-of-industry in a variety of fields — from entrepreneurship to hospitality to music and beyond.

For students who want to pursue a four-year degree, Burch said there are more traditional college prep resources, too. The school wants to provide students with whatever resources will set them up for career success after graduation, Burch said.

The program will be held six times per school year, with its official launch in September. Each session lasts for six weeks, with students receiving on-campus lodging and free transportation to the town of Romney, where the school is located.

“We’re really excited that the state’s school for the deaf and blind is going to have this academy dedicated specifically to career readiness,” he said.

For more information on the Discovery P.O.I.N.T. program and how to apply, contact Mary Anne Clendenin, executive director of the West Virginia Outreach Center for the Deaf and the Blind, at 304-822-6660 or mclenden@k12.wv.us.

Middle School Career And Technical Training Hopes To Improve Student Engagement, Employment

“I’ve seen kids go to college and have no idea what they want to be and go get a political science degree, then they can’t get a job,” Hardesty said. “I am sick and tired of a counselor telling a kid in the welding program ‘You don’t want to be a welder’ when he can go out and make $40 an hour and get hired today.”

Career and technical education (CTE) programs for middle schoolers are growing across the state, and educators say they’re improving academic outcomes.

Passed in 2020, House Bill 4790 allowed career and technical education to be taught in middle school. Programs range from the “Discover Your Future” program – which introduces middle schoolers to future career opportunities across 16 career clusters – to the “Empowerment Collaborative” which focuses on content and career exploration through community-based, student-driven projects.

Clinton Burch, technical education officer for the West Virginia Department of Education, told the state Board of Education Wednesday that 56 percent of the state’s middle school population have participated in a career exploration course.

“We have a lot of stuff going on with CTE, a lot of expansion happening with your support, a lot of classes offering,” he said. “Currently you have 30,786 students that have participated in a career exploration course.”

Board President Paul Hardesty thanked Burch for his work, and expressed his frustration at hearing of students being guided away from trades and towards college.

Burch highlighted the importance of showing students and their families the variety of opportunities available to them early so that they stay motivated and engaged in their education.

“It’s this idea of actually educating parents as early as elementary school on the benefits of career technical education, how it aligns very robustly with academics and by students exploring various careers at an early age, how it’s going to set them up for that success, so that you don’t have students who are just looking at college as the only option,” he said.

In response to a question from board member Debra Sullivan about the promotion of teaching as a career option, Burch highlighted the work of the new Grow Your Own program, but also stressed the need for service personnel in schools across the state.

“We did a survey a few years ago, and you’ve heard me say this before, the majority of kids, over 98 percent of them, actually did not want to move more than 50 miles from their hometown,” he said. “Who’s the largest employer in most of our hometowns? It’s our Board of Education and they’re always looking just as we are short on teachers that are always looking for service personnel.”

W.Va. Middle Schoolers Will See More CTE Opportunities This Fall

Rick Gillman, director of career technical education at the West Virginia Department of Education, said that while CTE programs exist in many counties, he and his staff wanted to develop something for all the middle school teachers in the state.

A push to get more career technical education (CTE) experiences in West Virginia middle schools will launch in the new school year.

West Virginia lawmakers on the Joint Standing Committee on Education received an update Monday about the initiative.

Rick Gillman, director of career technical education at the West Virginia Department of Education, told the committee that while these types of programs exist in many counties, he and his staff wanted to develop something for all the middle school teachers in the state.

“There’s always been career exploration, and counties can do things locally, but we wanted to actually develop a course that counties can use that covers all nationally recognized career clusters,” Gillman said. “[Bringing] CTE into the middle schools, and we wanted this to be hands-on.”

Gillman said he worked with elementary and middle school teachers across the state to develop the course called Discover Your Future CTE Exploratory Program. It offers learning opportunities within all 16 of the nationally recognized career clusters.

These clusters cover a variety of possible career paths. They include:

Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
Architecture & Construction
Arts, A/V Technology & Communications
Business Management & Administration
Education & Training
Finance
Government & Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality & Tourism
Human Services
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security
Manufacturing
Marketing
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)
Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

“We want [students] to take these career experiences, this career exploration, and help them try to answer the question: what do I want to do in high school? What do I want to do after high school? What do I want to do when I grow up?” Gillman said.
Each cluster takes two weeks and has four to five modules that a teacher will go through with their students. Each cluster also has a designated coordinator that a teacher can contact if they need advice or guidance on teaching the cluster.

There are more than 80 separate lesson plans available, according to Gillman.

“We wanted to provide flexibility in delivery, depending on the students’ needs in the county,” Gillman said. “And any West Virginia certified middle school teacher can teach this course. So a county doesn’t have to worry about staffing, adding someone else new. Any teacher they have on staff can teach this.”

Gillman said 48 middle schools in 31 counties have signed up for training this summer, but training is not mandatory.

The new course has been in development since October 2021.