Senior Year Stuff

We are almost 5 weeks down in the school year. That means my senior is over 1/10th of the way finished with his final year of high school. How is that even possible? This phase of life is…well…interesting. I feel as if I’ve taken on a part-time job and so has he. We’ve done 4 college visits up until this point. He has taken the SAT’s and is scheduled to take them a second time this fall. His high school has this wonderful future and career exploration process. It is called Project Dreams. Each year from freshman year through junior year, the students are required to do a job shadow in an area they are potentially interested in pursuing as a career. They spend at least 4 hours/day with someone in the field, observing what they do on an ordinary day. After each shadow, they evaluate their experience.

My son spent his first shadow in the kitchen at a local resort. He had the opportunity to chop foods and prepare some hors d'oeuvres under the supervision of a chef. He saw the pace of the kitchen and saw a more creative side to preparing ahead of time for an event, with less time pressure than some kitchens would have.

His second shadow was with the youth pastor at our church. That day, our youth pastor had to do some phone calls and planning for upcoming events. They also went out to lunch and discussed the requirements of the job, and the skill set that is most helpful for the position.

My son’s third and final shadow was with a 3rd grade teacher. By this time, he had narrowed down his career choices and felt pretty strongly that he wanted to teach elementary school. This experience was an enjoyable one for him. During the summer following this last job shadow (this past summer), John had the opportunity to work as a camp counselor at a local area township’s summer day camp program. He had the opportunity to counsel kindergarten students and then later 2nd grade students during his summer. Now that he is back in school, he is doing an internship each day at the elementary school, again with a 3rd grade class. He is getting the opportunity to do everything from cut and laminate, to read to students, to help with teaching lessons.

In addition to his internship, John goes to the high school for part of his day and then heads to the Vocational Technical School for their Culinary Program. This is his 3rd year in the program.

This Friday John will have the opportunity to share his experiences with a few teachers for a grade.

This, truly, is the best and most helpful assignment he has had in his school career. I'm definitely a fan!