These 9th grade students are participating from Benton High School in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Most of them have few opportunities to connect with professionals in the fields in which they are interested. You can play a major role in helping these young people achieve their college and career goals by serving as a mentor for them.

Students will research various careers, decide on a specific career, and then research colleges and curricula that will help make their career dreams become a reality. Along the way, with the help of a mentor, students will correspond with career professionals who will provide valuable insights into the students' chosen career fields. These insights will serve as guideposts that will help students successfully navigate toward eventual college and career success.

Students will identify careers to research; student will demonstrate the ability to locate, identify, and interpret information; generate choices and make career decisions based upon interests, abilities and values; students will design realistic education and career action plan to reach desired goal. The student will summarize the information gathered from the mentoring process in a PowerPoint or PREZI presentation, a portfolio, or a written report. A formal presentation will be made by the student when the project is completed.

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Career and Education Planning

Career and Education Planning

Students will use the project tracking system to evaluate their attainment of project outcomes. The student will complete an evaluation form about the Mentored Pathways project. The student and the mentor will evaluate their experiences and provide recommendations for improving the project.

Mentors are asked to maintain communication with students at least 2 times a week. Mentors are also asked to serve as a student advisor, collaborator, and supporter as students create a road map for reaching their college and career goals.