High School High Tech Activities Definitions
Guidepost 1: School-Based Preparatory Experiences
In order to perform at optimal levels in all education settings, all youth need to participate in educational programs grounded in standards, clear performance expectations, and graduation exit options based upon meaningful, accurate, and relevant indicators of student learning and skills. Activities include:
· Career assessment - the process through which students define and explore career options that are compatible with their personal goals, interests, and abilities. It is a key step in the continuous process to help young people make informed choices about their future. The career assessment process differs for each student. Due to different learning styles, cultural differences, language barriers, academic difficulties and other challenges, HSHT Project Coordinators should rely on three basic approaches to help young people prepare for their future: formal assessments, work-based learning, and informal assessments. Formal (standardized) assessments are those that are typically administered, scored, and interpreted only by those trained to do so (e.g., psychologist, vocational evaluator, etc.); informal assessments include, but are not limited to online inventories, interviews with youth and family, and career portfolios. The career assessment process for HSHT Project Coordinators requires a collection of information regarding the young person’s likes, dislikes, response to specific environmental conditions, interpersonal relations, skills and abilities, and personality characteristics.
· School Course Counseling - HSHT activities can also be designed to guide youth in the selection of programs of study that are grounded in state, professional, and industry standards, and that provide the educational prerequisites for pursuit of the STEM careers or other career goals. HSHT staff may need to recruit industry professionals to volunteer to look at the courses students are taking in school to ensure that they include the prerequisites and are sufficiently rigorous to prepare them for the careers they are interested in pursuing.
Guidepost 2: Career Preparation and Work-Based Learning Experiences
Career preparation and work-based learning experiences are essential in order for youth to form and develop aspirations and to make informed choices about careers. These experiences can be provided during the school day or through after-school programs, and will require collaborations with other organizations. Activities include:
· Exposure to post-secondary education - to help identify students’ school and post-school preferences and interests through college/university tours, post-secondary guest speakers and information including financial aid, admissions procedures, campus life, available accommodations and disability support services.
· Industry site visits to demonstrate career opportunities and career paths; including information about educational requirements, entry requirements, and potential income/benefits. Site visits typically involve a group of young people (accompanied by adult chaperones) visiting a business, industry, nonprofit organization, government agency, research facility, manufacturing plant, high- tech company, or other community venue to learn about real-life work environments.
· Job shadowing to learn first-hand about specific occupational skills related to a career pathway. Job shadowing is a motivating activity designed to give youth an up-close look at the world of work and to bridge the gap between academics and the adult world. During a job shadow, students accompany employees as they do their work to learn about an occupation or industry. Job shadowing gives students the opportunity to explore various facets of a career field and can help the student select or narrow his or her career focus.
· Work readiness skill development - training designed to improve job-seeking skills and work-place basic skills. Students learn the capabilities that allow people to perform educational and vocational tasks expected of them by schools and the workplace. For purposes of the HSHT program, these competencies include the development of “soft skills” (such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, customer service, and social/business etiquette), computer literacy, and job search proficiencies such as writing resumes and preparing for interviews.
· Summer internships (paid/unpaid) - students work for an employer for a specific period to learn about a particular industry or occupation. Activities in the workplace may include special projects, a sample of tasks from different jobs, or tasks from one specific job. Internships provide opportunities for youth to obtain direct exposure to different careers in a structured paid or unpaid work setting. In addition, they provide a structured work experience for youth in a career field that is of interest to them. Although internships are usually short-term, typically lasting for a few weeks to a few months, youth benefit by developing an understanding of what is required to be a successful employee.
· Entrepreneur activities - including a program-sponsored small business where youth learn entrepreneurial and organizational skills. Young people may create and operate a small business (or product) with a consultant from the local business community, through Junior Achievement, or under the auspices of a school-based enterprise in retail, construction, hospitality, and a variety of other careers.
Guidepost 3: Youth Development and Leadership
Youth development is a process that prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them gain skills and competencies. Youth leadership is part of that process. Activities include:
· Adult mentoring - activities designed to establish strong relationships with adults through formal and informal settings; including persons with and without disabilities. A mentor is an adult who, along with parents/guardians, provides young people with support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement, and constructive example. Mentors are good listeners, people who care, people who want to help young people bring out strengths that are already there. In the broader definition, a mentor is an experienced person who goes out of his or her way to help another person reach his or her important life goals.
· Peer to peer mentoring - A peer mentor is a senior youth (or recent HSHT graduate) who has proven his or her abilities to be successful within the HSHT program and who is interested in helping others.
· Self advocacy training- training in skills such as self-advocacy and conflict resolution. Students could receive self advocacy training through a variety of formats including Student Advisory Councils (SAC), community leadership and organizational training.
· Community service/volunteerism/service learning -exposure to personal leadership and youth development activities that provide opportunities for youth to exercise leadership and build self-esteem. Community service/volunteerism is action taken to meet the needs of others and better the community as a whole while fostering citizenship and an ethic of service. Service learning is ‘learning in action’ and provides hands-on learning experiences that apply academic skill while also addressing real community needs.
· Exposure to disability history, culture, rights, and responsibilities -an understanding of disability history, culture, and public policy issues as well as student rights and responsibilities.
Guidepost 4: Connecting Activities
Young people need to be connected to programs, services, activities, and supports that help them gain access to chosen post-school options. Activities include:
· Mental and physical health services – connecting youth to health services and health information to support the transition from pediatric to adult-oriented health care.
· Transportation – linking youth to transportation options helps to overcome a major barrier in program, education, and work participation. Individual arrangements must be made using creative approaches that provide dependable, affordable transportation, such as car pools, volunteers, bicycles, negotiated discounts with taxi companies, and subsidies from cities or counties.
· Tutoring - provides many students with extra help in academics, be it in learning the material or managing the workload. Some programs may choose to offer academic tutoring as part of their services. Tutoring is available through many other organizations in the community, including schools.
· Post-program supports – students connect through structured arrangements to adult service agencies and supports including but not limited to: the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Workforce Development Boards and other community-based support service agencies.
· Assistive technology-(AT) devices range from the very simple, low-cost or low-tech — such as calculators or book holders — to high-tech solutions such as voice-activated speech synthesizers. Such devices allow youth with disabilities to maintain or improve their functional capabilities, become more independent, and pursue opportunities for future education and employment. In addition to devices, the term “AT” also refers to related services such as assessments, training, maintenance, and repair of equipment.
· Community orientation/mobility training - providing resources and strategies for navigating community services including accessible transportation, bus routes, housing and health clinics.
· Financial planning – exposure to budgeting, checking/savings accounts, credit card information, identity theft/fraud and financial literacy. Includes benefits planning; information regarding the myriad of benefits available and their interrelationships so that youth may maximize those benefits in transitioning from public assistance to self-sufficiency.
Guidepost 5: Family Involvement and Supports
Family involvement is about promoting collaborative alliances with parents and families that will increase family participation in promoting the social, emotional, physical, academic, and occupational growth of youth, leading to improved post high school outcomes. Because of the diversity of family experiences and living situations in our current world, many youth require services and systems that recognize an expanded definition of “family”, which includes grandparents, relative caregivers, other relatives, non-relatives, and caring adults all of which takes into consideration unique cultural issues and practices. These systems need to promote a supportive network of family members, peers, mentors, and/or significant adults to be included in all aspects of life planning for the young person. Activities include:
· Receive educational/resource information – parents and families receive information and access to programs, services and supports including but not limited to: HSHT program services, community resources, accommodations available for youth with disabilities, medical, professional, and peer support networks.
· Participate in appropriate program activity – parents and families participate in activities including but not limited to: IEPs, HSHT events, Parent Advisory Councils and mentoring.