SCHOOL
story by amber fraley
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photography by katie lewis
DISCOVER EUDORA
Next-Level Field Trips Local industries are more accessible than ever for Eudora students with the new Career Connect program from the Eudora Schools Foundation and Eudora High School.
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Top: Eudora High School students speak with a local health care professional during a Lunch-and-Learn event. Above: Moderating the Q&A panels is another empowering experience for students.
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n the summer of 2019, Shanda Hurla, with the Eudora Schools Foundation, and Cathie Klein, the career- and life-planning teacher at Eudora High School, were chatting. “What could we offer at the high school to provide our students more opportunities?” Hurla recalls. She was looking to expand the programs of the Eudora Schools Foundation, which was founded in 2006 to provide extra support and funds to Eudora teachers and students. Klein, who had already been matching students with local internships in her role as the senior internship coordinator, was also looking for new ways to help students: “We wanted to build upon the work students are doing in their advisory classes for their individual plans of study, which is stair-stepping the student toward graduation, post-secondary education, and life after graduation,” she says. The duo settled on the new Career Connect initiative so students could see career opportunities in the area for themselves. “We decided to choose a business or an industry and take up to 30 students to find out more,” Hurla says. They launched the Career Connect program in the 2019–2020 school year, taking students to a variety of area businesses to see firsthand how they operate and to learn about open positions. Students of all grade levels are welcome to attend. So far, they have toured Garmin, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Huhtamaki, and the facilities and operations management departments of USD 497 and the University of Kansas. “If we know they have a certain career interest, we’ll email those students first,” Hurla explains. Seniors are also given preference if a field trip is popular. The Career Connect program also arranges Lunch-and-Learn events at Eudora High School. “Twice a month, we have professionals come in over the lunch hour and do a career panel where students can come, bring their lunch, and hear about their professional track,” Hurla says. “We have a student moderate the panels—students want to hear from another student. It’s provided a great leadership opportunity for those student moderators to be in front of these career professionals, leading a panel in front of their own peers.” So far, Lunch-and-Learns have covered topics like business and sales development, arts and communications, information
cityofeudoraks.gov
SPRING/SUMMER 2020
