Western Exploration Choosing a Career Pathway Western Alamance High School Elon, North Carolina 27215
Western Alamance HS profile Alamance County/Burlington-heart of NC between Raleigh/Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro Western HS located outside of Burlington near Elon University Approximately 1200 students One feeder Middle School with approximately 330 rising freshmen plus 4 private schools
What is Western Exploration? A two day orientation for rising freshmen/parents to the Career/Technical pathways for College Tech Prep and other elective options. Students visit each Career Tech program while classes are in session.
Why Western Exploration? Eliminates fear of the freshmen transition Educate students/parents about College Tech Prep and course offerings/career pathways Help students make better course selections that match their career interests and still meet NC graduation requirements
How to Implement ? Administrative Support-Middle School Transportation Student Guides and Mentors Class Rotation schedule Teacher preparation Career cluster brochures Parent night
Middle School Coordination Split students ’ visit into 2 days. Choose dates previous to registration. Divide eighth grade teams into 9 groups of approximately students. Give each student group a career cluster name tag with for identification purposes. Team teachers are the chaperones.
Transportation Bus arrangements are made by the middle school. Cost of transportation paid by middle school.
Student Guides and Mentors Assign each group two student guides- current freshman and senior mentor. Teachers may nominate students to be guides. Provide an orientation for student guides. (never assume that they know about programs or locations) Do a “ walk through ” of the rotation with them. Provide T-shirts for guides if possible.
Pathways and Electives 1.Information Technology Academy 2.Drafting/ Agriculture 3.Construction/ Automotive Technology 4.Health Science Academy 5.Family & Consumer Sciences 6.Business Technologies 7.Chorus/Band 8.Art/Dance 9.NJROTC
Class Rotation Schedule Students arrive at 8:15, greeted by guides with a brief orientation and a CFNC bag with promotional items. The rotation starts for each group based on the career cluster on their name tag. (shot-gun start). Each teacher is given 6-12 minutes to discuss their program. Program brochures are provided for teachers to use.
8:15 Guides greet students/orientation 8:30-8:42 Rotation 1 8:45-8:57 Rotation 2 9:00-9:12 Rotation 3 9:15-9:27 Rotation 4 9:30-9:57 Auditorium- Official welcome/Foreign Language (during break) 10:00-10:12 Rotation 5 10:15-10:27 Rotation 6 10:30-10:42 Rotation 7 10:45-10:57 Rotation 8 11:00-11:12 Rotation 9 11:15-11:27 Wrap up session/questions/answers 11:30 Back on bus (before lunch) Rotation Schedule
What happens next? After the visit Guidance Counselors discuss the registration process with the rising freshmen. A parent night is held to review the registration process and discuss freshmen transition. Tour of the campus is provided along with meet the teachers
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! Questions?