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.

In 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

technology, respiratory therapy, and logistics and distribution, all featuring professionals from a wide range of vocations and businesses.

So far, the Career Connect program has been a huge success. “The feedback from students has been extremely positive and [the program is] sincerely appreciated,” Klein says. “These opportunities enrich the students’ knowledge of the career field they may be considering, or they may be introduced to a career field that provides the student with concrete information to pull from in their decision-making process.”

“What’s been so informative for the students is learning that most professionals don’t take a direct path to end up in their field,” Hurla says. “It’s a journey to get to where they are. And they’re not at the top of their career as soon as they graduate high school.”

One of students’ most popular Lunch-and-Learn questions?

“How do people get hired?” Hurla says. “All of the panelists have said, ‘Be the hardest working person in the room. You’re not going to know everything—you’re going to learn. But always be willing to help and learn.’ That’s been pretty awesome.”

For the facilities management field trip, Tony Barron, executive director of facilities and operations for USD 497, explained to students the variety of duties and challenges for meeting the needs of a school, which includes everything from roof repairs, to vehicle procurement and maintenance, to turf replacement on athletic fields, to keeping playgrounds safe and up-to-date. Barron showed the students the warehouses of supplies needed to keep the schools running, and then students were taken to Lawrence High School to see the challenge of remodeling a school with students in it.

Some students, such as freshman Lara Eaton and junior Corey Bateson, attended the trip because they wanted to see the construction. “I’m on the carpentry and electrician side,” says Bateson, who also attended the Huhtamaki field trip. Eaton says her family has a background in construction, and she thinks she may follow suit. “I got to go with my father and my uncle to open houses a lot to see the work they do. We also renovated our own house,” she says.

Others, such as junior Rachel Pratt, were more interested in the administrative side of things. “I’m still not sure what I want to do, so I’m exploring a lot of things and seeing what sticks,” she says.

And then there’s junior Hayden Miller, who wants to go to Pittsburg State University to become a mechanical engineer. He also attended the Garmin field trip. “It gives me a real look at what the field is,” he says.

Cathie Klein credits several people in making the program so engaging for the students. “Mrs. Hurla has spent endless hours organizing these events and reaching out to professionals in a wide variety of career fields. Mrs. Teresa Abel has been a critical component in communicating with students about these opportunities, organizing reminders, and keeping attendance records. Our guidance counselors reach out to the students they know are moving in a particular career direction so they don't miss out on the opportunity to attend. Lastly, the Eudora community and parents have graciously adjusted their schedules so they can participate and spend time with our students.”

SPRING/SUMMER 2020

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