MOUNT VERNON — During the Oct. 13 Mount Vernon School Board meeting, high school Principal Steve Brand presented the District’s Career and Academic Planning (DCAP) Community Report.

He presented the DCAP as well as the ICAP, which is the Individual Career & Academic Plan. The ICAP is for grades 8-12 and outlines a personal plan to graduate career/college ready. The DCAP is a roadmap to how the district meets ICAP requirements as well as engaging the community in student success.

“The District Career and Academic Planning started a couple years ago, so basically, Michelle, myself, the two counselors, and the four Career in Typical Education Teachers put a lot of time into creating this plan,” said Brand.

Goals for this year

DCAP wants to continue with doing their best to include local businesses and introduce industry representatives at its district DCAP advisement annual meeting. It will incorporate information learned from feedback and local occupational data into their continued plan.

A new goal this year is to develop career-connected experiences within the normal CTE curriculum.

“Our CTE teachers are creating opportunities for students to consult and work with community business owners,” said Brand. We’re trying to do that in all of our different classes. So, trying to get some different local construction workers, welders, business owners, bankers, and accountants that would hit all our areas of our CTE.”

What makes this plan important

During the presentation, Brand presented slides with statistics that showed why developing different career-connected experiences is important for students.

One slide cited a 2019 Gallup & Bates College study that found that, “95% of four-year college graduates nationally consider a sense of purpose at least moderately important in their work yet, only 40% said they had found a meaningful career, only 34% indicated they were deeply interested in their work, and only 26% reported that they liked what they were doing on a daily basis.

Because of that, Brand thinks that linking aptitudes and interests to work experiences, job shadows, and internships is critical for students.

“It’s good for the kids to make connections, to go see what’s out in the ‘real world’ beyond what’s happening in their education institution, but to get out and experience different things out there,” said Brand.

DCAP Basic Requirements

There are a few requirements for DCAP, and all are being met or have been highlighted as a goal for the year.

It must integrate with the district’s comprehensive school improvement plan and school counseling plan, must have a designated career information system, must be a team of stakeholders, must have a four-year plan component outlining graduation requirements and next step preparation for students, and must outline activities and experiences by grade level to achieve ICAP requirements.

“We get measured on our percentage of students who obtain industry-recognized credentials. We do have some kids that already get those, especially in the area of nursing, some construction tech, and some in the area of auto,” said Brand.

“We’re meeting very soon with Kirkwood, and we’re looking to be offering an actual nursing component on campus,” he continued. “We would have actual people come out and have our students become CNAs right here, right in our walls.”

J Term Additions

During the J Term, or January Term, many students spend time working on various internships over a two-week period.

“Right now, we have about sixty kids that are either juniors or seniors signed up for an internship during the J Term,” said Brand.

This year, the high school added a dual-credit course with Kirkwood that allows students to do some soft skills through the school and an online component prior to going to the work site.

“They’re going to do the two-week actual internship at the place of business and not come to school for two weeks,” said Brand.

Spreading the Word

Towards the end of the presentation, Brand addressed a question from Board Member Tim Keegan.

“Do we need to do anything, or do you have enough of this to get the word out to businesses or people that would be willing to help?” said Keegan.

“We can always use more. Our teachers have just been reaching out on their own to people that they think would be good connections and good art ships to work at,” Brand answered.