October 21, 2021

Will the wide receiver go long? Will the running back run it up the middle? What about a quarterback sneak? You’ve always got the Hail Mary in a pinch! Y4Y’s newest course on career pathways emphasizes that students have numerous, equally effective ways to score in the end zone. Six points are six points, however you get there!

Throw a Pass to Trades

Many young people have already discovered that going straight to college may not be the “obvious” choice it was once thought to be. An estimate of spring 2021 U.S. college enrollment revealed that 200,000 fewer women and a dramatic 400,000 fewer men were attending college from just one year earlier. The National Association of Workforce Boards notes:

“The nation’s home builders face a severe skilled labor shortage. Some of the jobs that are in highest demand are carpenters, electricians, HVAC and solar installers, plumbers, painters, and masonry workers. In the previous two quarters, unfilled positions in construction have averaged 275,000,” according to Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

The National Association of Workforce Boards says “it’s time for a major national focus on training new workers in the skilled building trades. First on the agenda must be a change in the perception of trade jobs. Too many high school students, and those who influence their decisions, never consider the opportunities available for well-paying jobs and promising careers in construction after graduation.”

Your 21^st CCLC Goes Long

Does your program “influence the decisions” of your high school students while helping them make their own choices? You are if you’re meeting your goals! Y4Y’s new course walks you through a comprehensive and individualized approach to guiding students to the end zone. With pathways that wind through the trades, military, workforce and college, students can gain a broader-than-ever view of their options for the future. You’ll be setting up the play for both personal reflection and career exploration.

Cover the Player

Here are just a few tools you can use in your program to help students gain important insights about themselves through the first half.

• It’s never too soon to get students reflecting on what makes them tick. Elementary programs can download the Elementary Student Interest Inventory to get the ball in play.
• Hand off to families with the College and Career Pathways Questionnaire for Students and Families to help you capture data on student interest and family needs related to the students’ future.
• Check out the quick-and-easy online Work Personality Evaluation for students to learn more about their fundamental traits and how they could be applied to different professions. (You might want to try this one yourself, too!)

After halftime, run the whole field by exploring careers and the right paths to get there with more course tools.

• It starts at home. Offer Tips for Families: Preparing Children and Youth for Success for ideas on exposing students early to a variety of life experiences.
• Be sure staff can access Guiding K-12 Students to Plan for Future Careers so that each adult in your program is playing an active role in career preparation.
• Bring your community along! Y4Y's Guiding Questions for Partnerships in College and Career Awareness, Exploration and Preparation will start the team huddle.

Texas coach Darrell Royal famously said, “There are three things that can happen on a forward pass — and two of them are bad.” Help your student complete that pass, wherever they are on the field, and keep their eye on the endzone. Your 21^st CCLC program is the perfect place to help students understand that college is just one of many plays that can deliver them to a winning career and future.