OCR Text |
Show Career centers help students V - . '' ' i 'I m -: '1V ' ' ' - mww'Ar ' ex A k. . -I m i J - - ... x . . ! ' ' Y, i - - ; ? i $ f " ' ""--' I - - : ; ' 'I , ; '" , I " f 4 . I, .----., , ' 'A -w,J fk..- -l ., 1 Maria Moody and Fred Davies pull material from a rack as they prepare to counsel Viewmont High School students in the more than 1,000 jobs opportunities listed in the school's career center. Where does a student go to 4 'get on the right track" for a successful career following high school graduation? At most high schools in the Davis School District, the student can get the information he or she wants-plus wants-plus a little counseling by qualified faculty personnel at the school's Career Center. At Viewmont High, for example, resources at the school's Career Center can steer a student into one of more than 1 ,000 possible jobs in the ' 'outside world. ' ' As of last week, the school's computer system recorded 1,013 possible jobsand some information informa-tion to guide an inquiring student into any one of those jobs. "We have the most updated information in-formation possible about job potential poten-tial in Utah," said Fred Davies, vocational coordinator at the VHS Career Center. He said the breakdown of jobs varies from those needing very little or no college to those needing a bachelor's or even a master's degree. "Our purpose in the Career Center is to work with school counselors as well as the students and their parents to guide a student into a certain career field or to educate the student of a variety of jobs he or she might be qualified for," said Davies. 4 4 Our goal is to guide and help a student," not to try and push a student stu-dent into any particular job. Some students have dreams of what they would like to do while others have so little self-esteem that they don't feel they are worthy of any job." And sometimes students or faculty facul-ty can be misled. Davies remembers the - student several years ago who wanted to become an airline pilot-like many male high school students. "This particular student had a 1.9 grade-point average, not quite what you'd expect from a person wanting to become an airline pilot," related Davies. "But the student was intent on reaching his goal and graduated from college with a near-perfect 4.0 gpa and went on to accomplish his dream. "Now I'm a little more cautious about telling a student that he or she can't accomplish a certain goal. There are always a few added factors," fac-tors," he said. Career Centers are designed to help students and parents plan a student's future. The centers provide pro-vide assessment testing, evaluations, evalua-tions, careers available, college and scholarship information, informal job counseling, military information and ACT and other test materials. Students are introduced to the Career Center as sophomores when they meet twice a year to determine . student "'interest areas." After that, it's up to the students how much service they want from the center. Before and after school as well as lunch hour are the busiest at Viewmont View-mont High's center, which is open to students and parents all day. VHS just placed Maria Moody, career center technician, on staff. A native of Spanish Fork and a graduate of Brig ham Young Uni- versify, she will assist in the numerous nu-merous assignments in the center. The mother of seven children and one foster daughter, Maria said she is returning to education after several years absence because "We are at the beginning of a new decade and I want to be a pan of developing students' lives." "There are so many challenges and so many changes taking place that every student needs guidance in the choice of their future," she said. "There are more options and skills available to students than ever before, but there are also more obstacles to overcome." |