This week was an inspiring week for Team DPS, as we watched eighth-grade students take a leap into the future
at our
annual Eighth-Grade Career Fair and
we had the opportunity to co-host
the
Asia Society's
Global Cities Education Network conference.
Students cannot explore career opportunities they aren't aware of, and it's our job to give them that intentional early exposure. We had more than 3,800 eighth-graders attend the
Eighth-Grade Career F
air this year, where the kids interviewed veterinarians, bacteriologists, broadcasters, health inspectors and representatives from 150 other businesses and higher education institutions.
One of the many wide-eyed, eager students who attended was David Anderson, an eighth-grader at Morey Middle School, who is now interested in a career in education or hospitality.
"I know I will need more challenging, advanced classes, possibly college classes, while in high school to get me more qualified in my future profession," David said, "and this helps me plan."
This is the type of thoughtful planning we strive to instill in our kids
,
and it truly takes the support of the entire community.
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Eighth-graders explore college and career pathways.
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T
his week at the Global Cities Education Network conference, which included
educational
leaders from seven countries, we focused on ways
to better combine career and professional opportunities for our students with their academic experiences. Our goal is to provide a set of interconnected pathways that stress both college and career and continue to provide maximum opportunities for our young people.
Through our partnership with CareerWise Colorado, we've
introduced this year a promising
apprenticeship program
for
students,
in which
they
have the opportunity to take college courses and gain valuable work experience in growing areas of our economy. Beginning as high school juniors, they commit to a three-year program in which they work for two days a week and take high school and, increasingly, college courses during the other three days. While the college courses are all free for students, the students are paid for the valuable work they do in their apprenticeships
We have learned much from the success of other highly developed, knowledge-based economies like Singapore and Switzerland in their ability to offer students a coherent and interconnected set of post-secondary pathways that include both excellent university opportunities and strong career and technical programs. This week at the conference, we had the opportunity discuss such programs with education leaders from several Asian, Canadian and North American cities.
We were proud to be chosen as the host for the conference and to share our progress in this area.
I look forward to many other conversations like th
is
one. Let's keep learning, and let's keep growing.
