Rochester High School Authentic Career Experience - Press Release October 5th 2018, marked a new day in career exploration at Rochester High School. 93 juniors and seniors went out on a one day job shadow, at 27 different companies in the metro Detroit area. Parents, community members and Students expressed a critical need for an Authentic Career Experience and through a partnership with the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Malsbury’s passion project was born. Parents and students alike, praised this opportunity. “Our daughter Beatriz, was extremely excited before the appointment on Friday, and when she left the building, she was amazed with the wonderful experience Wade Trim had provided to her. The company employees were very nice to her, they provided all the information she was looking for, they treated her so well, and she was really excited about everything ! They provided her with a lot of information, flyers, events in the area that she is interested. It could not be better.” Quote Mrs. Vezzaro Britto “Christopher had a FABULOUS time visiting Berkley Screw! He is all ready to report to work! He really loved the experience. Most energetic I have seen the child in months!” Quote Mrs. DiTommaso. Students on their return were asked to fill in a survey and send a thank you card. (examples of appreciation attached) Some feedback that was received, solidified how crucial it is to give this opportunity again, in the future. Students were asked, “What was the best thing about your Authentic Career Experience?” The responses were powerful. “ The examples of how Artificial Intelligence is being used in order to clean up data and make businesses more efficient and save money. Pizza was an added bonus.” “ Overall, the advice given by the mentors was extremely helpful, and could be applied to all careers regardless of the field. One of the most memorable moments was when the sales manager, Scott, had demonstrated how minor alterations in a part (even to the micron and sub-micron levels) could result in mechanical issues. There were also two workers of Germanic origin, Andy and Sebastian, who gave very detailed stories of how they got in touch with the company and made the decision to travel to America for Jenoptik.” “Going to a real meeting where they brainstormed ideas for parts.” “I really liked how everyone was welcoming my visit to the company. Every workers were very nice during whole experience, and it was cool that I get to actually see what they do and how they do in field of financial management. I also really liked their goal/motto towards their clients.” Steve Schmidt from Artificial Intelligence described the students as “refreshing and engaging”. Pamela Valentik, Manager of Economic Development at the City Of Rochester Hills said she had a great time visiting Magnet Consulting during their Career Experience Day. She praised Sandy and Nicole for hosting such an amazing experience for the five students that shadowed there. To pull off a project of this magnitude required extensive work “behind the scenes.” Mrs. Malsbury spent the better part of 6 months finding job shadowing sites throughout the area. Then, students were matched to shadowing opportunities based on their response to an interest survey. In order to help with the logistics, Mrs. Malsbury enlisted the help of Dr. Rodney Nyland from Oakland University. “What impressed me most was seeing the commitment from Mrs. Malsbury,” said Dr. Nyland. “Whenever there was a roadblock, which is inevitable with a project on this scale, she was always prepared to revise the plan. In the end it was really inspiring to see so many students have this opportunity.” Mrs. Malsbury explained that, from this experience, Rochester High School plans to provide a job shadow opportunity every semester. The next date, will be Thursday April 25th 2019 (National Bring your kid to work day). Students will be able to sign up to participate, in the New Year. If a company would like to be part of our next Authentic Career Experience please email [email protected]. We look forward to expanding this opportunity. A huge thank you to all 27 companies involved (represented in info graphic), Dr. Nyland from Oakland University on his administrative support and Alaina Campbell and her team at the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
If you as an educator or administrator are interested in any of the resources needed for this experience please feel free to take what you need from the following Google doc. https://tinyurl.com/y5c6348b. There is also a step by step guide to help support this program. A presentation to explain the project and its outcomes can be found in the download below.