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Show 'Choices' provides answers but students make decisions ' ' "'' ' $ V v ' l is. y J;''-y . :?- If J Xy y r-r -j rv ft; - - J Of . . ? - ? . , , , a i. . , a,.. ... iiuftriwiniMiiiri iff m by Nan Chalat High school students are faced with some tough decisions these days and perhaps the toughest part is that there are so many choices. Neither is it easy for school counselors who are expected to keep tabs on a variety of career options from cosmetology to computer science. But this year Park City High School sophomores and counselor Steve Leatham are getting a helping hand through the job market maze with a computer program called "Choices." The program is compatible with the school's Apple mini computer and contains two components covering educa- ; tional and occupational decisions. deci-sions. The occupation component compo-nent includes descriptions of about 350 career options instantly available to students. stu-dents. The education component com-ponent has pertinent information infor-mation about most of the post-secondary schools across the nation. Both components are updated annually. The students can access the information either by typing in their interests and letting "Choices" narrow . down the field of compatible occupations, or by requesting information about a specific job category. Then, with Leatham' s help, they can talk about the options suggested by the computer. This week, members of the sophomore Life Skills class are filling out questionnaires about their interests, personality per-sonality traits and preferences. prefer-ences. Later in the week each student will have a chance to enter his priorities into the computer and to watch the "Choices" program narrow a field of 350 job opportunities down to the five most suited to his responses. I ' Leatham will be on hand to answer questions and to talk about any inconsistencies which might appear in the students' answers. He will keep a printout of the results in each student's file as a reference for future counseling. coun-seling. Tracy Stottern began feeding her responses into the computer on Monday. "I think it is time for me to start making some plans for the future and this will give me some ideas. It's a neat idea," she said. Stottern filled out the questionnaire without a specific job in mind. When "Choices" suggested that she might want to become a beautician, Stottern thought it sounded appealing. Tom Meuzelaar had a different approach. He asked the computer to describe the requirements for becoming a computer scientist. "I didn't know I had so much in common with that occupation," occu-pation," he said with renewed re-newed confidence in his decision. In addition to the aptitude and education requirements for each job, "Choices" tells students about the annual wage scale range for each job and whether the field is growing or diminishing. Students can take the same approach with the education component, either asking "Choices" to search for a school which matches their criteria or asking for information infor-mation about a specific school. The program cost $2,300 ' and was purchased by the school district with state vocational funds,- , , "I think it will help the students set their priorities. Then we can sit down with them and with their parents to talk about the future," said Leatham. Park City High School Counselor Steve Leatham helps Tom Meuzelaar and Tracy Stottern feed their career choices into the school's Apple computer. com-puter. , .... .... . ., . I |