Building career bridges between students and businesses: Warrior Career Pathways

BY REBECCA FLANSBURG

What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Many of us recall being asked that same question as a small child. In those days, common answers were firefighter, ballerina, actress or astronaut. But as we moved through our school years, that question resurfaced and took on a more serious tone. As high schoolers, many of us were left anxiously thinking, “What do I want to do after graduation? What career path is best for me?”

Newspapers In Education provides newspapers, lessons, online activities and links for classrooms and homes. nieonline.com/brainerdecho the program. This collaborative effort includes developing relevant pathways, identifying and outlining required courses, partnering with local businesses, and creating a branding strategy to communicate each pathway’s purpose.

The Brainerd public school district is rethinking what high school education can be from a student-centered perspective to help students focus on their future and make more informed decisions on the best career choice.

Established in 2007, the Bridges Career Academies & Workplace Connection was designed to help students explore careers and plan for their goals after graduation. Now known as Warrior Career Pathways (WCP), the program has been expanded and offers specialized courses that provide students with exciting hands-on learning experiences in 23 different areas of concentration. These courses include local speakers, business tours, career or job fairs, informative interviews, virtual career exploration experiences, industry-recognized certifications and internships.

As a Sourcewell Career Consultant and Warrior Career Pathway committee member, Amy Sjoblad works closely with high school staff and district leadership to guide and support

The goal of the Warrior Career Pathways program is to support all students in building a plan for their unique and chosen future path by fostering connections between businesses and students. She went on to share that, even though all courses are aligned with a career pathway at the Brainerd High School, WCP also focuses on continuing education opportunities via dualcredit enrollment during high school to support students in their journey to enter the Brainerd lakes area workforce with industryrecognized skills.

“Too often, students graduate from high school with little planning for their future,”

Brainerd High School Principal Andrea Rusk shared. “The WCP program is centered around exposure to multiple career pathways to help in decision-making after high school.