71. High School Options (Pathways, Certifications, Dual Credit, Endorsements) Plus Tips to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in the Process.

Did you know your teen does not have to know all the answers today like we have been led to believe?

Step into the world of high school career planning with Sonia Cacique in this special episode. Unravel the complexities of endorsements, pathways, and certification options, transforming confusion into clarity for families.

 Loaded with heartfelt anecdotes and practical advice, this session equips you with tools to navigate conversations about your teen's future with confidence. Dive into the nuts and bolts of educational pathways, as it is for Texans for example, understanding their transformative role in early career exploration. Embrace a flexible approach to guide your teen's journey and foster an environment where career planning becomes empowering, not stressful.

Celebrating International Women’s Day, Sonia acknowledges her pod squad, inspiring women who support her mission. Here are their podcasts:

Speaking of Teens with Ann Coleman
Power to the Pleasers with Vicki Smith
Your Zen Friend with Lauren Wolfe

Reference in episode.

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"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Are you feeling the pressure of your teen having to decide their career in high school, or even as early as middle school? Do you feel confused and overwhelmed over all the options, or maybe lack of, in your school district or high school? If so, then you are in the right place, my friend, because today we will explore how to make the best of endorsements, pathways and industry-based certification options offered to your child in high school. At the end of this episode, you will feel more relieved and much more confident to have a conversation with your teen about the future. Welcome to College and Career Ready you go to resource for all things related to helping you guide your growing teen towards a career path that motivates them. I'm your coach, sonia Casique, founder of Discover you, and I will be your host and guide on this exciting journey towards a bright future. My mission is simple to empower our parents and students by elevating their confidence and resourcefulness. I believe that you deserve all the tools and support necessary to open the doors to endless opportunities of success and, with our community, you don't have to do this alone, so come with me and let's get started. Welcome, sweet friends, to all my mom friends out there. Don't worry, dads, this podcast is also for you, too, but I do want to make a special shout out to all the women out there.

Speaker 1: 1:42

As we celebrated last week International Woman Day, I also want to give a shout out to three amazing ladies in my life that are my pod squad. These ladies are not just friends, they're almost like colleagues and they form part of my women tribe, because we meet on a regular basis to share ideas, explore options, talk about our goals, ambitions, and we also provide each other some constructive feedback and criticism, which, hey, we all need a little bit of that. So I want to give a shout out to Lauren Woof from your Zen Friend podcast and Colman from Speaking of Teens podcast and, last but not least, vicki Smith from Power to the Pleasors podcast. These ladies are so important in my life and I highly recommend their podcast. Their content is so good, especially for parents. There's a lot of topics of conversation that they talk about that is so essential for parents as well, so check them out. All right, my friends.

Speaker 1: 2:57

So today I want to go over with you about pathways, endorsements and industry-based certification options that may or may not be offered at your school or your school district, but we'll talk a little bit about it at the beginning, just so you get an idea of what options are out there and a little bit of behind the scenes as to why school districts and schools decided to start having options such as these which, by the way, they tend to make parents feel overwhelmed because of options, but it's actually a good thing if we really look at it from the bright side. At the same rate, we're also going to be understanding and talking about why this is creating so much stress for parents and teens. Seriously, my friend, if I ask any parent of a high schooler, they are overwhelmed. They are stressed, just like yourself, because there's either too many options, not enough options, and the pressure from society and their local community about success and really having a defined career plan as early as middle school. Yeah, we'll have to talk about that as well. And then, towards the end, we will definitely be exploring on how to help you and your teen feel less confused, help decrease your stress, anxiety and help alleviate with academic burnout. So make sure you stick around until the end for these amazing tips and takeaways that we will be exploring together. And this is gonna be the first part of a two-part series Next week we will dive into a little bit more into several of these topics, but I wanted to give you a little bit of a general overview and really give you a little bit of peace of mind as we start exploring these different topics and conversations.

Speaker 1: 4:54

So let's get started and talk about the options offered right now in some high schools. Now, remember, it depends on what states you are in. Predominantly, our listeners are in Texas, but we definitely have listeners all over in so many states. Shout out to all of you listeners, no matter what state you're in. But, believe it or not, even if you are in the same district, within the district it will vary between schools as well. So you even have options within your school that might not necessarily be the case in all of the schools within your school district, so we'll talk about that as well.

Speaker 1: 5:35

So the idea behind high school pathway programs or endorsement or industry-based certifications, the idea is that students are exposed to a variety of occupations, from public service and the performing arts, biotech, engineering and so many other options. Now, these initiatives their aim was to provide high school kids or students with a head start on discovering their abilities and gaining experiences that will lead to rewarding careers in college majors. Now let me say this one more time the idea behind it was to give kids a head start on discovering their abilities. Okay, and I'm just have that in the back of your mind because we'll be talking a little bit more about this as well Professional pathways do differ significantly from previous vocational programs what we used to call vocational programs, which were frequently linked to remedial academic programs that didn't always lead to college. They were also considered more of a vocational option. Now, these modern pathways allow students the opportunity to discover themselves and discover interests, likes, dislikes and so much more. Honestly, friends. It is an opportunity for self-exploration and self-discovery. I honestly love all these options that parents and students are given and, yes, it's providing a lot of stress and anxiety. We'll talk about that in the next point, but for now, I just want you to understand that there is a lot of benefit to these programs. At least 21 states have identified multiple diploma options or pathways to graduation within their state policy, and at least 44 states and the District of Columbia allow students to substitute specific courses, assessments or other experiences for existing credit requirements. Again, I know this can be overwhelming, but it's also an opportunity for students to diverse their options depending on what they're currently interested in. It's a great way to explore career opportunities.

Speaker 1: 7:59

The process of teaching certain career skills to children in middle school, high school and post-secondary institutions is known as career and technical education. You might hear it as CTE. Now, nearly all public school districts do offer CTE programs to high school students. About three-fourths of these districts offer courses that earn both high school and post-secondary credit, commonly known as dual credit. So CTE is typically further divided into an additional 16 career clusters that correspond to several high demand professions, and I'm not going to list all of the 16, but I will give you some examples, such as health science, business, information technology, stem, government. There's also law or agriculture, to name a few.

Speaker 1: 8:56

Now, other states like Texas this is actually where I'm currently from have high school program endorsement options that offer all students a basic educational pathway with the opportunity to specialize through what they call endorsements in areas of interest. Please, please, have that term or that word in mind areas of interest. Now, the 22 credits basically make up the program's main disciplines, such as English, math, science and social studies, physical education, foreign languages including those used in computer programming, of course and electives. Now students are offered endorsements that students can obtain, such as STEM, business and industry, public services, arts and humanities and multi-studies, and these can change right and every few years they do revise and change these, but that's just an example of what an endorsement is Now, regardless of what options you are offered okay, whether it's whether it's an endorsement program, a pathway or a certification requirement and choices that your district or school offers will vary, but the goal of this podcast episode is to help you and your teen decrease your stress and make the most of these opportunities.

Speaker 1: 10:28

But before we dive into these options, let's talk about why is this creating so much stress for parents and students? So, the best way to understand and see what options your school offers, I highly recommend you check with your school district webpage, as well as the resources available within the high school itself, whether it's a college counselor, career counselor or their school counselor, so people within the school will be able to help guide you more. As far as the options, the objective of this episode is not to cover all of the options, but really to help you understand why these options exist and how you and your teen can benefit without causing you stress or anxiety, because that is something that's very important. We've seen way too many parents stress about the high school options and our students, who are top on my list as far as being able to help and support them to decrease distress and, what I like to say, enjoy the journey. So let's talk about stress.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Stress can typically arise from known or unknown fear. I mean, that's one of the main things that causes anxiety. Now, this can be through society, social media or sometimes even our education. Leaders can create some of this fear in adolescence when we start discussing their college and career, future academic rigor and when we focus so much on the past fell system rather than focusing on the academic growth which I love talking about that, because I think that if we teach our children about how to challenge themselves and how to work on their own personal academic growth, then we're focusing on the student and not necessarily on the comparison. Right, I've said this many times I have teens. I do not have teens yet.

Speaker 1: 12:42

I have twins that were born one minute apart in our night and day. I mean, they're oil and water. They could not be any more different. Like seriously, they are very different. They have unique skills, abilities, interests or characters and guess what? They were born one minute apart, raised by the same two parents and within the same household. So figure that right. So that's why I think it's so important for us to focus on your own individual student and for the student themselves to focus on their own growth rather than comparing themselves to others.

Speaker 1: 13:20

Now, as the psychology today has illustrated, in one of their articles, they explain that choosing a career direction is a very difficult process. Okay, let me say that one more time Choosing a career direction is a very difficult process that might bring unwanted side effects of stress, confusion, the feeling of being stuck. Okay, the psychological side effect of life transitions tells us that feeling of unsettled or disoriented in the messy middle is normal. So that messy middle used to be the transition from high school to college, and actually it still is. However, with so many options and so many questions that students have to know the answers to or define as far as career options and high school courses and graduation requirements, then this messy middle starts appearing earlier and earlier in students life. Now it can start looking as early as a transition from middle school to high school. Why? Because, again, we are asking our children to start defining some of these options very early in their educational path.

Speaker 1: 14:44

Now, being a parent of high school students nowadays can definitely be overwhelming. There are so many options you and your teen are being asked, such as what pathway to choose, what endorsement they can select from If they're interested in completing an industry based certification prior to graduating from high school, if they're planning to take dual credit, what are the dual credit options? And, as a parent, not only are you having to try to help your teen answer these questions, but you also want to make sure you help them make the best selection, even as early as middle school. As I mentioned before, that is a lot of pressure. In the strategies discussed today, my goal is to help you with this and to help your teen to take small steps that can help you through the uncertainty and confusion of not enough choices or too many good options to choose from.

Speaker 1: 15:47

First, let me just say to take a deep breath. My friend, let's apply the four, seven, eight breathing or relaxation method. If you've never heard of it, let's try that out together right now. We're going to take a deep breath by breathing in through our nose for four seconds and then we'll hold our breath for seven seconds and then slowly breathe out for eight seconds through your mouth. So that would be the 478 method. So let's go ahead and give that a try. Let's breathe in Now, hold it for seven seconds and breathe out for eight. All right, see, doesn't that just make you feel much better and a little bit more relaxed? If not, you might need one more round of this or even a third, but I promise it will definitely help you relax, open up your mind and yourself to the possibility of being able to be less stress, less anxious and feel more prepared in helping your teen with the high school options. And, by the way, if you want to share the 478 method with your teen, I highly recommend it, especially if they're walking in the door and you feel like there's a lot of tenseness, anxiousness or they start getting overwhelmed with all of these options. Teach them how to do the 478 method of relaxation All right. So We've already discussed the many options that you can be asked. Again, this will vary by state, by district and even by school, so make sure you stay informed and up to date with the options that you're offered.

Speaker 1: 19:56

Second, we discussed about how this can definitely cause a lot of anxiety, fear and stress, and Not only yourself, but your teen as well. And now we're going to go into the most important aspect of our conversation is how to help our teens feel less confused, decrease their general stress, anxiety and decrease the chances of academic burnout. The first thing I want to help you Identify for yourself as a parent Okay, not as a student as a parent, what is your fear? What are you afraid of when you are focusing Time and energy to preparing your teen for college and career? What are you mostly afraid of? And you can do this by Freeform writing in a journal about your fears. You can just do a brain dump and just write everything that you can think of that Makes you stay up at night, and you can also use the same strategy with your teen, asking them what is their greatest fear regarding college and career planning.

Speaker 1: 21:13

Now, once you explore, once you identify that fear right, once you've written down all the possibilities of what can give, what can cause this fear in you, I want you to explore it a little further. Identify where this fear came from. Where did it start, my friend? Was it fear that Maybe you created yourself because of your own experiences? Is it maybe a fear that you hear from society? Have you heard of students being quote-unquote unsuccessful or not gone to college. That causes you to have that panic mode. Or maybe you heard a Friendshare about their child not being accepted to their top Top choice for college, right, whatever it is, write this down. I want you to really Look at where this fear is coming from and why.

Speaker 1: 22:18

Now have the same activity for your child. Have your teens start writing their own fear about college and career readiness, like what would be the worst-case scenario, and then help identify where did this fear stem from. Did they hear something? Have they been told so that maybe you as a parent have been saying something out loud that unconsciously they have heard and have felt overwhelmed. So together, identify where that fear is coming from. Where did it start, where did it come from? And start exploring it a little further together, open and share each of your thoughts. Share your own fears with your teen and then explore their fears as well and where it came from, and this will allow you to start having an open communication and conversation with them, while also Connecting with your adolescent in this very crucial part of their education process.

Speaker 1: 23:17

Now, if you answered that your fear or your child answered that their fear comes from the fear of being unsuccessful, then let's start exploring that. Let's start asking each other what does success actually look like? What does it mean to you and your teen to be successful in life? Right, explore this with your teen, especially. Evaluate with them what does college success even mean to them and what does it mean to you, and Compare your answers and see if y'all are on the same plane or not. What does career success look like and how does that feel? Explore this together Now news alert I can almost guarantee that your definition will be different from your team. Explore the similarities and differences in each other's expectations. But, more importantly, learn to listen, my friend, and not just judge their opinion of what success looks like, because judging will make them pull apart from you and decrease the connectedness and communication that you're looking for and that's honestly one of the top things that parents should aim for during this journey and help decrease their stress and anxiety, my friend, by letting them know that they are not alone and you are there with them.

Speaker 1: 24:49

Now, a tip that I would recommend for you, and that I try to remind myself as well, is to think before we speak. When you ask your child, what do you want to be when you grow up? That is a loaded question. Do we really expect our teens, our eighth graders, ninth graders, tenth graders heck, sometimes even juniors and seniors to know what they want to do for the rest of their life? I don't think so, my friend. I think a lot of people think, or have that misconception, that their friends know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives but, honestly, more likely than not, they are in the same boat as you are. So how can we help? Well, let's ask them, let's rephrase the question and say hey son, hey John, what are you most interested right now? You see how different that feels that question. Instead of asking what do you want to be when you grow up, you're asking what are you interested right now? Because now you're leaving the opportunity for their interest to change and evolve as they start changing and evolving as well. It's a great way to start the conversation about career options, college options and college planning.

Speaker 1: 26:16

You can also ask them what do they enjoy when they are doing a school project or school presentation? When you know they're about to present or turn in a project, ask them what part of the project that they enjoy the most because, remember, in a company, unless your child is planning to be an entrepreneur and be the only person in their company, then you have to work with the team. Whether you are the lead manager, the CEO or you are part of the team, part of the support team, you will be working with others and you will not be expected to know every single part of the project. You are going to be working on the part of the project that you are more skilled at. Same thing with projects at school. They shouldn't have the pressure of being excellent at every part of a project. This is a great way and a great segment into transitioning what they do now in high school and how they can translate some of those skills, interests and abilities in their college and career preparation. So ask them, what project have they been mostly proud of? When do they feel they're at their best? Maybe, what skills they enjoy and are feeling pretty proud of?

Speaker 1: 27:39

How about asking them, what skills do they want to further develop and explore? Because that's another misconception. Another misconception is that people are born with skills and some skills have to be learned. My friend, there is a lot of things that I have been interested in that I didn't really have the what do I how should I put this? The natural ability or the natural skills. But I have been very interested in developing those skills. So I've taken opportunities to develop those skills through courses or working with others and having mentors. So, sweet friend, as you can see, this is an exploratory phase, not a defining moment in your child's life. So, again, instead of asking them what they want to be when they grow up, ask them what they're interested in right now and always remind them to not be afraid to continue to explore.

Speaker 1: 28:39

College and career planning is a journey, not an end destination. So how does all of this apply to having to choose today what track, what path or what classes to take? Well, it's taking out the fear of exploring. This is not a definitive moment. The stress that most parents feel is from the stress that these decisions will have an everlasting effect in their child's life. And let me tell you that is not necessarily the case. I have interviewed plenty of successful professionals who were, let's say, clueless at what career they wanted to pursue even when they started college. And yet, over the course of the first few semesters, they started finding that clarity that they were looking for and defined a major within the field, in an area of interest, and are now very successful within their industry or professional field. Very, very few, to be honest, knew exactly what they wanted to do when they were entering high school, and some, who actually even knew what they wanted to do when they entered high school, later changed their career path once they got to college.

Speaker 1: 29:59

So why do I share this? To help you and your teen decrease the pressure of having to know all of the answers today. This is an exploratory phase. Enjoy it together, my friend. Explore options through course selections, pathway selections, certification options or endorsements.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Next week, I will further expand on how to make the best out of having to make a selection early on, but for now, I will tell you, sweet friend, that if your teen has to pick an option today, right, depending on your state and the school district or the school they belong to, this will vary, of course, but it does not have to be definitive and you can always ask your school, if there is a change or a change of heart, what options you have. Don't forget to ask. If you have a question or a doubt, reach out to your school and ask. Right, you're just one question away. However, even if all right, even if you have to stick with your choice throughout your high school, or that your teen has to select their choice throughout high school, they can still use this as a learning opportunity and use it to their advantage. Trust me, having your child find out that they are not interested in a particular field or study is not a loss at all, and it's actually a gain that will help them further define what they do like and don't like.

Speaker 1: 31:32

Next week, I'll dive more into this topic. Now I share all of this to help you decrease your fear, decrease your stress and decrease your anxiety. You do not need to know all of the answers today. Take the options that you're given and find the best that your child is most interested in today. Remember, you can still use this as a learning opportunity to help your teen further discover themselves.

Speaker 1: 32:02

I'm going to end with this quote the first step towards success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself, and this quote is Mark Kane. And guess what, my friend? That is also the first step in helping you and your teen decrease your fear, stress and anxiety by always remembering. Let me repeat that one more time that the first step towards success is taken when you refuse to be captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. My friend, it was such a pleasure being able to share this with you. Help you identify your fear, exploring your fear a little further and really asking ourselves where it stemmed from.

Speaker 1: 33:02

Remember, changing our language when we talk about our teen's future college and career plans can make a big difference by talking more of the exploratory phase rather than the definitive phase of their life. Remember, identifying what they don't like is also a step in the right direction. It's better to find that out today rather than later, when they've already begun a career that they don't like or that doesn't fulfill them or that they're not even good at. Now we won't even start talking about the thousands and thousands of dollars that you could be spending in a career that's not aligned with who they really are and what they're interested in. So use these opportunities as opportunities to explore and help in the process. It doesn't mean you have to define it today. Now, most importantly, enjoy the journey. My friend, this is an exciting time and if you and your teen focus on the stress, anxiety and pressure and fear. Well, guess what? You'll forget to enjoy the most important part of the journey, which is enjoying each other. Next week, we'll dive into what to do when we have to select the pathway and endorsement or certification that we find out it isn't a right fit for us after we've already selected it and we're already in the program or in the pathway.

Speaker 1: 34:30

Friend, I want to help as many parents and teens to help decrease their fear, anxiety and pressure of high school and instead help them enjoy the journey while providing clarity towards their future. To do so, I need your help. Please share this podcast with a friend or two, or as many as you can think of, that are going through the high school journey with their teens. I am very excited to continue to see our community grow, and you can help me do so as well. And if you want to help us grow even beyond your immediate community, I'd love it.

Speaker 1: 35:06

If you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, spotify or YouTube, and if you do, please tag me or let me know so I can personally thank you. Who knows, you might get a shout out on our next episode. Thank you, my sweet friend, for being here with us today. Thank you for joining us, sweet friend, and, as always, stay well, be present and enjoy the journey. I'll talk to you next week. Hi friend, thank you for listening in. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much to me. If you share it with a friend, share it with them right now or, even better, tag me so I can personally thank you for helping us build our community. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. Let's keep in touch and I'll talk to you next week. Adios.