Pathways to Success: Sage Oak's Career Social and Its Impact on Student Curiosity

Career Fair Social Episode at Sage Oak Studio
Tiffiny Webster hosts this episode at Sage Studio, introducing three guests from Sage Oak who are organizing the upcoming Career Fair Social. They discuss the possibilities of introducing and focusing on various career pathways to students, right from an early age. The studio also hosts Stephanie Gomarko, Regional Mentor for Rancho Cucamonga, and Jodi Paterson from the Temecula region, both focusing on student's interest exploration. The podcast also brings in Laura Glaviano, Assistant High School Principal to talk about the plans for middle and high school students. At the Career Social, students will get to explore various career paths, ask professionals-related questions, and see certain programs in person. The socials are arranged region-wise to ensure every student has the opportunity to attend.
00:14 Introduction and Guest Introductions
01:53 Discussion on Career Fair Social
02:31 Importance of Career Exploration in Elementary Level
03:16 Career Curiosity in Elementary Students
03:49 Career Interest Shift in Middle and High School Students
04:34 Career Programs in High School
07:41 Role of Teachers in Career Exploration
12:11 Career Socials: Organization and Expectations
16:07 Career Socials: Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Thank you for listening to the Sage Studio podcast presented by Sage Oak Charter Schools and hosted by Tiffiny Webster, M.A.Ed. We invite you to follow the show and leave your review below. Sage Oak Charter Schools is an independent study nonclassroom based TK-12 personalized learning public charter school serving students in Southern California. Visit sageoak.education for more information.

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Transcript

0:14

Welcome to another episode of Sage Studio. I'm Tiffiny Webster and today I have a jam packed podcast for you because I have three guests with me today. I always love when there's a crowd and I'm going to let these ladies introduce themselves and their role here at Sage Oak and today we're going to just dive into a conversation all about the upcoming Career Fair Social that they are all working on planning. But before we get into those details, let's hear from our panel today. Laura, I'm going to start with you. Will you just introduce yourself? We are so grateful that you are here today. Oh, absolutely. Thanks, Tiffiny. I'm Laura Glaviano. I'm one of the high school assistant principals, and today I'll be talking about the middle school high school side of the event. Love that. Okay. And Stephanie, always good to see you. Say hello to everybody and tell us again what you're doing this year at Sage Oak. Thank you, Tiffany. I'm Stephanie Gomarko and I'm the Regional Mentor for the Rancho Cucamonga area. I love working with new teachers and training them and helping to host all of our socials and events throughout the school year. I know our teachers love working for you and working with you. And they just learned so much from you, Stephanie. So it's always great to have you and your insight on the podcast and Jodi. So good to see you, Jodi. You and I have worked together in the same region of the Temecula area. Go ahead and introduce yourself to everyone who may not know you. Hi, everybody. I'm Jodi Paterson, regional mentor for the Temecula area. And then I have a couple of teachers down in the San Diego area. this is yet another instance of a social event that we're planning this for all of our students across different regions, which always makes it so accessible to all of our families, which is so great. So let's first dive into the idea of this Career Social I know Sage Oak is like they're becoming really well known for these socials that you host and for our families that don't know what these socials are. These are opportunities for you to gather with your families, with teachers, with other staff members of Sage Oak. They happen throughout the year in different region, and there's always like a different So we're gonna talk about a theme to them so that our families can participate in different activities and students can connect with other students on a variety of topics. So this one is all about career. And Stephanie, I'm going to start with you. Talk to us about why this vision of bringing our students together over careers so important? Especially at the elementary level. Which is just kind of the beginning of their school years. But why is this an important vision to have for Sage Oak right now? I think we're our goal was to really just like spark interest and spark curiosity in our students and inspire them to start thinking about maybe what they'd want to do And this way, at a very young age, we can start talking to them seeing what they're interested in, getting them excited about their pathway, and teachers can help guide them in their curriculum choices, and their extracurricular activities to build that curiosity. And I love the way that you describe it as like curiosity, right? Like at that young age, that's really what we're looking at with helping our students become curious about careers. Jodi, you work with our elementary students as well. Do you find that they're starting to be curious about careers, even at a young age? I think so. They start science, art. ceativity, writing, drawing, there's so many different skills and talents that these kids have that they can start to dive in and realize that it's not just a random skill or talent. They can actually utilize that as they grow up and in their curriculum and see that there's opportunities as an adult that they've been blessed with that talent or ability that they can utilize. Laura, for you working with most of the high school students, are you starting to see by the time they get to like sixth grade, seventh grade, or maybe into their high school years? Is there interest and focus on careers? Do you start to see that shift as they get older? Yeah, I love it. Stephanie and Jodi talked about that curiosity because it's so important to start fostering that at a young age so that when they're coming into the middle school, high school age, they can intentionally choose some courses that will give them a diverse experience, but also so they can start to hone in on some of those interests. Because by the time they're, leaving high school, we have a responsibility to have them college and career prepared. So we want to make sure by the time they leave us that they're equipped for whatever comes next out in the real world. So let's talk about some of the programs that you're offering in our high school right now that are helping to kind of get students to become more curious about careers. So we're really excited to share this at this event. We're going to have an opportunity for students to come in and see these programs in person and get a little hands on experience. So we'll have some boosts available for all of our CTE programs, which is our Career and Technical Education program. They'll get to see things like our Child Development Program and we'll have some booths with our babies or our pregnancy suits. There are Sports Medicine pathway will be there as well. And we're hoping they'll have some opportunities for students to see injury wrapping and different kinesthetic samples that we have our IT pathway will be there they have an incredible eSports club and program that they'll be highlighting, as well as our Arts, Media, and Entertainment program so those are the career focused programs that we'll have at our event for students to get uh, taste and see more about our programs. Okay, so I just want to back up for just a second because not only did you drop some major programs that our high school department is continuing to offer, but there's some new ones too. And it sounds like these career programs that are built in with in the high school curriculum. are really continuing to grow and evolve, which is awesome. I love that the Child Development one has taken off and the Art one has taken off, but it's so glad to hear that really the sports medicine one is really starting to take off. And the e sports is like coming to fruition. I know a lot of our students and our families are excited about that. As an independent study charter school, we connect so much online, but these socials really provide that opportunity for some personal connection, some live in person connection, and people can really get a chance to, you know, touch and feel some of the aspects of this program. Some of the equipment that's a part of these programs. So it sounds like that's going to be a really exciting opportunity for any of our students that might be curious about these programs to really get kind of that hands on interaction. We're really focusing on highlighting these programs to our middle school students. So really our 6th, 7th, 8th grade, and then also our currently enrolled students. So our students who are in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade as well. You know, maybe you've been with Sage Oak for a little bit now, but you want to explore some of our other programs. We'll also have like AVID, our Honors, our AP, ASB there. So it's just a really good opportunity even if you're a currently enrolled high school student to see. What else do we have to offer? Try something new next year. And you started to mention the instructors will be there as well. Yeah, it'll be great just to have that face to face contact with some teachers as well. You know, all of our CTE instructors have some experience in these fields. So if you have more in depth questions or you want to think about, okay, once I finish this pathway, what does a career look like after I leave high school? They'll be there to answer those questions. So good. Okay. I want to get back, Jodi, to our elementary students because something that you said really sparked in me the importance of the role of the EA, the Education Advisor, or I guess in elementary it's the TF, the Teacher Facilitator, right? Tell me a little bit about how, as a teacher facilitator, you're able to kind of notice what a student might be curious about or have an interest in or a career that they might want to explore and how you can tailor some of their assignments or some of their curriculum or some of their program to kind of meet that curiosity. Talk to me about that personalization. With each career we're going to have a dentist, we're going to have a doctor, we're going to have a hairstylist, we're going to have Firemen and seeing these kids explore these different things and then they go home and maybe one of them wants to write a book. I have a student who typed up an entire book and she wanted to write a series and write a book. Maybe there'll be an author there and she can see that her talents and abilities now could be something that she could look to in the future. Another student of mine is constantly drawing. Impressive stuff Maybe that maybe we'll have an artist there and they'll realize, Oh, somebody is making a living off of doing the thing that I enjoy just doing for fun at home. So it's just making those connections of. I enjoy this now, but oh, that's applicable to a future career that I could possibly do one day. I love that. Helping students to connect those dots between where their passions are, what their talents are, seeing how that could play out in the real world and in a career and, you know, seeing somebody else that's actually doing that can be very impressive and very impactful. So I love that. Stephanie, are you seeing that as well, too, that sometimes students interests in certain careers or certain career pathways might impact some of the projects that they're doing, or maybe some of the topics they want to research. Do you see that with the students that you're working with? Yes, absolutely. And that's why I love how you mentioned personalization because we can really personalize each student's academic plan based on their interests. We don't have to do the typical textbook and paper pencil, but bringing whatever they enjoy, whatever their passion is to life for them and building that. Integrating that into their curriculum, I think it's so helpful to continue to help the students to love learning. Yes, for sure. Yeah, I see that too. I think they get so much more connected to their learning because they have that choice and because they have a little bit more of that personalization and as a result, I think that they get so much more out of the assignments and apply themselves in a different way. And the results really show that. So Laura, how about you? Do you see that as well? That when students are connecting to either some of the CTE courses, these Career Technical courses, or even some of the electives that are available in the high school program that could be career related. Do you see that that connection is making an impact in those students and in their motivation or in their academic performance. I think one of the best parts about these programs is the experiential components to their curriculum. We have a wonderful partnership with one of our classes for a child development program. And so to see the students, learn the content, master their knowledge, and then to go apply what they've learned in a classroom setting with one of our programs at Sage Oak has been really great to watch and to see them really build those relationships and to continue to grow. I love that we're providing these opportunities for students not only to learn and to think about things, but to actually go out and try it in real life. Yeah, so good. And so in alignment with Sage Oak core values and Sage Oak's mission Sage Oak always has their students and their families at the heart of all of these decisions and all of these innovations. There's always something new, always a new idea. we see our students are passionate about this and there's ways that we can connect it back to other students in the program or connect them to vendors or connect them to resources within their local communities. And all of this is always taking place with the students. Not only at the center of it, but also leading the way. Don't you find too that some of the students are definitely influencing some of these decisions and some of these innovations because we see their potential early on at a young age and we definitely wanna foster that. we see other students who possibly want to be a fireman and so they're already exploring that they're reading books about firemen, so yes, absolutely. I do agree with you 100%. Jodi, talk to me a little bit about how these socials work in terms of the regions, because our students are spread out throughout Southern California. So how are these socials organized so that we can make sure that our students, no matter where they live, get an opportunity to attend one of these socials? In each of the six regions, the TK through five will be the focus. Obviously, if siblings want to come and join us, it's going to be a great time. They'll see their old teachers. We'll have crafts available that are career minded. We're going to have photo booths at each of the different career fairs for kids to put on fireman stuff, artist stuff, baker stuff, and take a picture. And maybe. 30 years down the road, they'll look back and say, Oh my gosh, I dressed up as that character in that photo. And now look at me I'm a fireman. And I took a fireman picture when I was in the third grade. Oh yeah, for sure. And then they're going to be set up with some questions to walk around to the different booths and the professionals and ask them specific pointed questions. so it's going to be a fun day and the teachers will all be there and then each of the regions will host their own event. And then Stephanie, I think you were saying high school, middle school, it's going to be at Rancho Cucamonga. Is that right? yes, all middle school students and high school students are invited to attend the Rancho Cucamonga region. Event on March 7th. Okay, awesome. Laura, aside from some of the program representatives from Sage Oak that will be there and other careers representatives that will be there from that surrounding area, what else can our high school students and our middle school students expect from this career social? So when you're thinking about what classes you want to take, how many science courses should you take in high school? What type of classes do we offer? Do you want to do honors? Do you want to do AP? Do you want to take dual enrollment? And those are all really important questions that, play a factor into the different types of college and career choices you make. In addition to that day, I wanted to highlight that we'll have an opportunity for all of our middle school and high school students to do drop ins that whole week. So we'll have a preview week. So Monday through, Wednesday, they can attend different classes. Then they'll get to meet us in person on Thursday and there'll be a Q and A opportunity on Friday so, um, hopefully by the end of that week, they'll get a really good taste of the college and career opportunities that Sage Oak for high school. Awesome. So good. I think our families are really going to appreciate that because as much as they have like really great ideas in their mind and. When they start to want to choose the right classes or establish the right pathway, it can feel a little bit overwhelming and that there's a lot to choose from, and they don't want to make the wrong choice. They, you know, but they don't necessarily know what the right choice is yet. So I think all of this pre planning is really going to help put our families at ease and just help them to do the right type of exploring for classes and ultimately put together a pathway that works best for them. So I know that they're going to appreciate that. So much and it's really exciting to see all the thought that's going into this. I love that it's all just kind of coming together over the next few weeks as more ideas come together and different departments are working together and these different grade levels are working together and we're getting the details all organized that we can offer this to our students and families throughout all of our Southern California region. So such good things happening on the fronts of these career socials. All right, if you want to get some more of those details as they come together, as always, check our website, which is sageoak. education. And you'll be able to find all the latest information there, as well as locations, dates, times, things for that, for the ones that are located in your region. So don't forget to talk to your teacher if you want to have a little bit more information on these careers. I think we're just really excited. It's our first one, so we're hoping to have a great turnout. If students or parents have a career and a professional and would love to share, there's a QR code to sign up to be one of the career and professionals to present a booth. We'd love to have you. Go to the Sage News or Sage website and sign up to be one of the presenters at one of the regions. I love that idea. It's always so great to tap into our own Sage Oak community, right? Okay, so Sage News or Sageoak.education website if you're interested in participating as a career representative. As always, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. I always love hearing about these amazing events that you're all planning. So thanks so much. Good to see you. And we'll see you on the next one. Bye guys.