Mentored Pathways - Maximizing youth potential through academic mentoring.

Step	Description	Expected Student Results
1	Career Selection and Career and Education Plan Student Task: The student will write an introductory letter to their mentor, including their interests and activities. They will include a description of their area of primary career interest, citing specific reasons why this career is of interest--such as the student's results on the US Department of Labor career inventory assessment battery. Students will submit their paragraph and will be matched with a mentor with interest and/or experience in that area. After the student chooses a career area of interest, the student, with assistance from his mentor, will begin to complete his Career and Education Plan. This comprehensive college and career road map will be addressed throughout the project and will be finished by the time each student completes the project. Note: The CEP is a living document that can and must be continually updated whenever significant changes occur in the life of each student. Without updates, the CEP will lose much of its value and be little help to the student. To ensure high standards are set, the teacher will provide excellent examples of completed CEPs to students for review. Likewise, the teacher will provide an annual review of completed CEPs throughout a student's high school years. Mentor Task: The mentor will reply by asking questions about student interests and offering his/her own insight. Through the questioning, the mentor will try to help the student narrow the primary interest if necessary that he/she would like to explore further. Once the student has decided on a career choice, both he and his mentor will turn their attention toward the Career and Education Plan located on the Mentored Pathways website. The mentor will assist his student with the completion of the entire CEP, providing encouragement and advice along the way. Special emphasis should be placed on the pacing of the completion of the form to ensure it is finished with fidelity by the end of the project.	Student Task: The student will write an introductory letter to their mentor. THE FIRST PORTFOLIO ENTRY will be an introductory letter from student to mentor that includes their school and extracurricular interests and activities. The letter will include a description of student's primary area of career interest and will explain the specific reasons for their focus on that career. After the mentor reviews and responds to the student's portfolio, the student will respond to mentor with a well-written, correctly punctuated letter thanking mentor for their interest and answering any questions raised by the mentor. Student Task for completion Career and Education Plan: The student will answer each question contained in the CEP with thoroughness and fidelity and share his work with his mentor from beginning to end. STEP 1: CEP Questions: 1. Describe you career interest area. 2. How did you choose this career interest area? 3. Research a current job opening in your career interest area.
2	Career Research Step 2, Student Task #1: Students will research, analyze, and synthesize information about one career, then type an informational summary paragraph to submit to their mentors for feedback. They will include all information required by their teacher in their write-ups. Career research paragraphs must include information from a minimum of three valid research sources. (Students may not cite Wikipedia as a source but may link to primary sources from Wikipedia references) The web address (html) or bibliographical information for each source must be listed in a bibliography after the research paragraph to indicate where the information came from. Students will submit paragraph for mentor and teacher feedback. Step 2 Student Task #2: Students will watch a minimum of five minutes of career videos for both of the top careers they have chosen, take notes on important information from each video, and summarize what they have learned. Students may watch one five-minute video or multiple shorter videos for each career as long as the total time is at least five minutes per career. Students will record the URLs of all videos accessed to provide to their teacher and mentor. Students will follow directions written by their teacher for this activity and will submit the information in the required format to their mentor for analysis and feedback. Mentor Task: After the student has identified the career that is of the most interest to him/her, the mentor will send the student suggested research keywords and helpful websites to use during internet research and/or videos on their two selected career areas of interest. In addition, the mentor should send the student some specific questions related to exploring the careers to help provoke thought and further study.	Career Research Step 2 Student Task #1: Students will research, analyze, and synthesize information about a career, then type an informational summary paragraph on their chosen career to submit to their mentors for feedback. They will include all information required by their teacher in their write-ups. (see below for requirements) Career research paragraphs must include information from a minimum of three valid research sources. (Students may not cite Wikipedia as a source but may link to primary sources from Wikipedia references) The web address (html) or bibliographical information for each source must be listed in a bibliography after the research paragraph to indicate where the information came from. Students will submit paragraphs for mentor and teacher feedback. Career Informational Paragraphs should include the following information along with other interesting information that the student and mentor discover about the career through their research together: 1. "Career cluster" overall field of interest (examples: Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics; Marketing, Sales & Service; Human Services; and so on as found on career cluster inventory.) 2. The name of the specific career 3. Education and skill preparation/requirements (In other words--what type of degree/training is required for an entry job in this field?) 4. Specific duties that someone in this career will perform 5. Possible challenges/difficulties that may be encountered in this job 6. Expected salary range for someone in this field (compensation) 7. Outlook for future job growth in this field 8. Describe what a student in high school can do to prepare for this job (include courses to take in high school, volunteer/summer jobs/etc would be helpful to a student wishing to enter this field) 9. Possible potential employers for someone working in this field (Hospitals? Schools? Companies? 10. What are some other career fields that are related to this field? In their career paragraph, students will write a Conclusion Section. In the Conclusion Section, they will answer both of the following questions: Conclusion Section: 1. From what you have learned through your research, do you feel you are suited to this career? Why or why not? 2. What do you need to do this week/month/and year to work towards a career in this goal? Step 2 Student Task #2: Student Task: Students will watch a minimum of five minutes of career videos for both of the top careers they have chosen, take notes on important information from each video, and summarize what they have learned. Students may watch one five-minute video or multiple shorter videos for each career as long as the total time is at least five minutes per career. Students will record the URLs of all videos accessed to provide to their teacher and mentor. Students will follow directions written by their teacher for this activity and will submit the information in the required format to their mentor for analysis and feedback. Student Task: Students will communicate with mentors throughout the development of their research paragraphs, send rough drafts of their work, and upload their research paragraphs to the Telementor site for mentor feedback. CEP Questions: 4. What are the basic and preferred requirements for this job and career area? 5. What is happening on the leading edge of this field? Who are the industry leaders? 6. What are the problems or current issues in this field you'd like to solve?
3	Step 3 Mentor Task 1: The mentor will help the student to identify two professional organizations and discuss the benefits of membership in professional organizations. Mentor Task 2: The mentor will help the student identify one top professionals who is active in each of the professional organization students research The student will identify one top professional who is active in each professional organization they research. (total of two top professionals) and write a paragraph detailing their accomplishments and explaining why they are considered important in their fields. The student will distinguish between professional organization and a company. The student will identify at least two professional organizations in their career field of interest. They will compose an entry for EACH organization describing/including the following: 1. Name of the organization 2. Benefits of membership 3. Cost of yearly membership (include student membership if offered) 4. Professional publications of the organization 5. Annual conferences/dates/locations 6. Two top professionals identified within each organization. Student should download and save a photo of each top professional identified along with information about why they are considered important in their field and organization. 7. E-mail contacts for at least two top professionals identified within each professional organization.	Step 3 Student Task: Research and Writing Activity 1: the student will learn about what a professional organization is and understand the importance of professionals joining a professional organization. The student will discuss the importance of professional organization membership with their mentor to demonstrate understanding. Activity 2: The student will identify one top professional who is active in each professional organization they research. (total of two top professionals) and write a paragraph detailing the professional accomplishments, education, and credentials and explaining why each professional is considered important in their fields. The student will distinguish between a professional organization and a company. Writing task for Activity 1: The student will identify at least two professional organizations in their career field of interest. They will compose an entry for each organization describing/including the following: 1. Name of the organization 2. Benefits of membership 3. Cost of yearly membership (include student membership if offered) 4. Professional publications of the organization 5. Annual conferences/dates/locations 6. Two top professionals identified within each organization. Student should download and save a photo of each top professional identified along with information about why they are considered important in their field and organization. 7. E-mail contacts for at least two top professionals identified within each professional organization. Student Research Activity 2: In addition to reading and writing Activities 1-2, the student will locate, download, and save a graphic symbol of the professional organization in high resolution to be used later in their portfolio, PowerPoint, and on their project poster. CEP Questions: 7. What are the state and national organizations that represent this field? What are the membership requirements of each? 8. What is the vale of being part of a state or national organization connected with your career area of interest? How would you leverage that membership academically and professionally? 9. What are the current and future job prospects in this field? Are they growing or shrinking?
4	Mentor Task: The mentor will help the student identify professionals working in their field of interest (either local, regional, national, or international) and develop a contact list of e-mails for at least 5 "every day" professionals. The mentor will assist the student in composing a letter and list of interview questions that may be modified for each professional. The mentor will further assist the student by e-mailing the student's questions to professionals and posting the response(s) to the student through the Telementor site. Mentor Task: Ask the student what questions they think would be important in an interview. Discuss with the student differences in an oral interview and in an e-mail interview. Mentor Task: Guide students as they write a brief introductory paragraph describing their project. This paragraph will be sent along with their interview questions. Stress to the student the importance of correct grammar and punctuation in an interview. Review and help students revise their introductory paragraph and interview questions. Mentor Task: Please assist the teacher and student by e-mailing the student's questions to the professionals and by posting the answers for their students on the ITP website. If you don't hear back from a professional, please follow up with the individuals contacted to determine whether or not he/she will be able to answer the student's questions in a timely manner. Student Task: The student will work with the mentor to develop a short introductory paragraph and questions for the e-mail interviews. The introductory paragraph should be a note explaining their career interest and purpose of their research. They will respond appropriately and immediately with a thank you note when interview responses are received.	The 4th student portfolio entry will include an introductory letter and list of interview questions to be sent to at least five professionals working in the student's area of career interest. Activity 1: The student will work with their mentors to locate e-mail contact information for five "every day" professionals in preparation to send interviews for information. These professionals may be local, regional, national, or international. Activity 2: The student will work with the mentor to create/compose/develop a short introductory letter to each professional working in their field of interest. The introductory letter should explain their career interest and purpose of their research. The student will write a draft of their introductory letter and post it to their mentor for editing and approval. The mentor will e-mail the student's letter and questions to the identified professionals. Sample letter to a professional: Dear Professional, I am a ninth grade student in Louisiana and am interested in the career field of chemical engineering (you fill in your selected career field). I am researching this field as part of a class project with the help of a professional mentor through the Mentored Pathways Program this semester and have developed some interview questions to help me learn more about this field. If you are willing to answer my questions, I know it would help me to expand my understanding about what it takes to be a professional in this career field. Please send your answers to my mentor through her(you fill in his or her) e-mail and she (select his or her) will send them to me. Thank you very much for your time and for considering this request. Sincerely, Your First Name After students have created their letter, they will work with their teacher and mentor to develop a list of ten interview questions designed to elicit information about the career field. Use the following guidelines and see the interview question template as examples. Students should consider the sample interview questions provided by their teacher and should brainstorm additional questions with their mentor in order to gain as much information as possible from the professional interviews. Students should write questions in such a way that they cannot be answered with one word or yes/no answers and so that each question will elicit a generous amount of information interesting to the student. Students should NOT JUST COPY/PASTE THE SAMPLE QUESTIONS! Really think about what YOU want to know and revise the questions accordingly. Students should send the messages to their mentor for suggestions and editing. Incorporate their feedback into the final version of your interview questions and send back a final copy. TELL YOUR MENTOR WHEN YOU ARE DONE EDITING THE QUESTIONS AND WOULD LIKE THEM TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THEM TO PROFESSIONALS. SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (modify to fit your interests/career field and work with your mentor to make them the best they can be!) 1. Please describe your current job title and position and responsibilities including some of the daily tasks you perform. 2. What classes did you take in high school and college that you feel were the most helpful in preparing you for this career? 3. What type and level of education did you have in order to qualify for your current position? 4. Please describe the physical work environment of your work place. 5. What type of other professionals do you work very closely with on a regular basis and how do you interact with these professionals? 6. Do you consider your work to be interesting? Why or why not? 7. Please describe what you consider to be the most enjoyable and least enjoyable parts of your job and why you feel this way. 8. What are some of the biggest challenges a professional in your position deals with on a regular basis? 9. Knowing what you have experienced in your professional life and the future outlook for this career, would you still select this career for yourself and would you recommend it to someone my age? Why or why not? 10. Is there any additional advice you have for someone my age who is interested in this field? After submitting introductory letter and questions to mentor, student should proceed to the next portfolio. Waiting for interview responses sometimes takes several weeks. During this time, the student will continue to research and work on unfinished research and writing for other portfolios. As each interview is posted for the student, students will stop whatever other research they are doing immediately and will write an appropriate thank you note back to the professional following the guidelines provided by the teacher. Thank you note guidelines have been provided by the teacher and students have been given a written copy of them to follow as well. Thank you guidelines may be found in Portfolio 6. Students should respond to the interview with a thank you note within two days after receiving the interview and then will work on a summary of the interview as well. THE THANK YOU NOTE ALWAYS COMES FIRST because it is extremely important that the professionals who respond know that their time and efforts are appreciated by the student! As soon as the thank you note is written, it should be uploaded to the mentor so that he/she can send it to the professional immediately. CEP Questions: 10. What is the salary range for professionals in this field? What salary level is tied to my professional and lifestyle goals? 11. List at least three companies in your field you'd be interested in and the support they can offer you now. 12. List at least three success factors for this career area that would make you stand out.
5	Portfolio 5: Conducting College Research, Analyzing Professional Interviews, Developing a Professional Network Mentor Task: During Step 4, the mentor contacted professional individuals via phone or e-mail asking them to answer student interview questions and submitted the questions to those individuals via e-mail. During step 5, the mentor will hopefully receive the student's interview questions via e-mail. When answers are received from the professionals, mentors will post the interview responses to students through the telementor site. Mentor Task: While waiting for interviews to be returned, the mentor will work with the student to help them explore college/university websites and learn information about the admissions requirements, degree/program offerings, cost, and other important topics as outlined in the student task section. Mentors should challenge students be sure that their chosen schools offer their major field of interest and challenge students to thoroughly research their chosen universities. Mentor Task: As interviews are received and students summarize and respond with a thank you note, mentors will help proofread and make suggestions for improvement on student thank you notes. After they are refined, mentors will forward student thank you notes to each professional. In addition, they will proofread and collaborate with students as they evaluate information received during interviews and will provide feedback to students as they summarize interview responses. This process carries over into Portfolio 6. The mentor will make suggestions for improvement and forward the student’s finalized thank you message to each professional. Finally, the mentor, along with the project's supervising teacher, will ferret out professional contacts in the local area who will be willing to help vet each student's work and serve as a quasi-mentor for the student through his graduation from college. Student Step 5 Task Number 1: Students will work on college research as outlined below while waiting for interviews. International Telementor Portfolio 5 Assignments: The students will use the Internet to research four universities/colleges of interest that have highly respected programs in their chosen career field. At least one university must be in Louisiana. BEFORE a student selects a particular university as one of their four to research, students MUST search university degree offerings to be certain that their degree program of interest is offered at that particular school. Students will communicate with their mentor to ask their advice about university programs and will discuss their findings and collaborate with mentor for assistance and to expand their learning opportunities throughout this step. Students will use keywords/college websites/ and other information that the mentor suggests to locate other universities/colleges that offer programs in their field of interest and read about several before selecting three universities to research in-depth. Written entries should be organized by university and will include the following information. The teacher will provide a spreadsheet for students to use and they must record their information in the spreadsheet. This spread sheet will be e-mailed to students. Here is the information that must be included in a separate written portfolio entry for EACH of the three college/universities chosen by the student: 1. The college/university name and web address 2. The city and state- location of the college/university 3. Distance from home (use Google maps or map quest to find distance) 4. Size of school including: a. Overall campus size b. Student/Faculty Ratio 5. a. Admissions office mailing address b. Admissions office telephone c. Contact person d. Application fee 6. Admissions requirements including required ACT/SAT scores and grade point average if listed. Does this school require the writing portion of the ACT? 7. Admission application deadlines for the current year 8. Scholarship primary application deadlines for current year 9. Specific reasons why you chose to explore this college/university 10. Other important information (athletics, Clubs on campus, fraternities/sororities, ROTC, music, debate, 11. Cost of attendance at the university, including: a. Tuition (list by semester or quarter depending on the university and total for the year) b. Estimated cost of books/supplies c. Required fees d. Cost of dorm or apartment (room) for campus housing e. Cost of the meal ticket for on campus meals that you feel best meets your needs (check the different plans and decide which would have the number of meals per week that meets your eating habit. Keep in mind that you will sometimes want to eat out and also may go home for the weekend sometimes as you decide how many meals a week to purchase in your meal plan.) Step 5 Task Number 2: Additional Student Task: Students will search college major requirements for their major of interest and will complete a 4 year schedule of classes for their college undergraduate degree program. Student Task for Analyzing Professional Interviews: As soon as each interview is received, students will read and analyze information provided by the professionals. They will record information about each professional and summarize/write a portfolio entry detailing information from each professional interview. In addition to including the information provided by the professionals, students will include any new insights they learned about their career of interest. Students will upload a separate summary for each individual interview for mentor approval AND will immediately write a thank you note as outlined in Portfolio 6. Additionally, each student will make note of the individuals interviewed and add them to a catalog of professional contacts. These contacts will be included with the names of other professionals that the student has gleaned from research or completion of project steps.	Student Step 5 Task Number 1: Students will work on college research as outlined below while waiting for interviews. International Telementor Portfolio 5 Assignments: The students will use the Internet to research four universities/colleges of interest that have highly respected programs in their chosen career field. At least one university must be in Louisiana. BEFORE a student selects a particular university as one of their four to research, students MUST search university degree offerings to be certain that their degree program of interest is offered at that particular school. Students will communicate with their mentor to ask their advice about university programs and will discuss their findings and collaborate with mentor for assistance and to expand their learning opportunities throughout this step. Students will use keywords/college websites/ and other information that the mentor suggests to locate other universities/colleges that offer programs in their field of interest and read about several before selecting four universities to research in-depth. Written entries should be organized by university and will include the following information. The teacher will provide a spreadsheet for students to use and they must record their information in the spreadsheet. This spread sheet will be e-mailed to students. Here is the information that must be included in a separate written portfolio entry for EACH of the four college/universities chosen by the student: 1. The college/university name and web address 2. The city and state- location of the college/university 3. Distance from home (use Google maps or map quest to find distance) 4. Size of school including: a. Overall campus size b. Student/Faculty Ratio 5. a. Admissions office mailing address b. Admissions office telephone c. Contact person d. Application fee 6. Admissions requirements including required ACT/SAT scores and grade point average if listed. Does this school require the writing portion of the ACT? 7. Admission application deadlines for the current year 8. Scholarship primary application deadlines for current year 9. Specific reasons why you chose to explore this college/university 10. Other important information (athletics, Clubs on campus, fraternities/sororities, ROTC, music, debate, 11. Cost of attendance at the university, including: a. Tuition (list by semester or quarter depending on the university and total for the year) b. Estimated cost of books/supplies c. Required fees d. Cost of dorm or apartment (room) for campus housing e. Cost of the meal ticket for on campus meals that you feel best meets your needs (check the different plans and decide which would have the number of meals per week that meets your eating habit. Keep in mind that you will sometimes want to eat out and also may go home for the weekend sometimes as you decide how many meals a week to purchase in your meal plan.) Step 5 Task Number 2: Additional Student Task: Students will search college major requirements for their major of interest and will complete a 4 year schedule of classes for their college undergraduate degree program. Student Task for Analyzing Professional Interviews: As soon as each interview is received, students will read and analyze information provided by the professionals. They will record information about each professional and summarize/write a portfolio entry detailing information from each professional interview. In addition to including the information provided by the professionals, students will include any new insights they learned about their career of interest. Students will upload a separate summary for each individual interview for mentor approval AND will immediately write a thank you note as outlined in Portfolio 6. The mentor will make suggestions f(or improvement and forward the student’s finalized thank you not to each professional who responds as soon as possible. Step 5 Task Number 3: Additional Student Task: Students--as a class--will visit a local college/university, meet with admission counselors, and make note of the "college experience." After the campus visit, students will reflect on their experience and write a 350-word multi-paragraph reflective essay that will be included in each student's professional portfolio. Students will also share their essay with their mentor. And finally, each student will create a formalized list of professional contacts. The list will consist of the persons the student interviewed, leaders in the student's chosen career field, local career professionals, and any names the student's mentor has passed along. CEP Questions: 13. Describe why this field is a great personal fit for you. 14. Describe the Mentored Pathways projects you'd like to include with your plan. 15. Describe other work experience, including internships that you'd like to include and share with potential employers and post-secondary staff.
6	Letters of Appreciation and Interview Summaries Mentor Task: After each interview has been received, mentors should guide students through writing a thank you note. Then, mentors should let students know how to properly address their thank you notes to the professionals.(Dr., Captain, Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc). At no time should e-mail contacts be exchanged between student and professionals. After a thank you note has been written by the student and approved by the mentor, the mentor should forward the thank you note to the individual. Student task: The student will create a letter of thanks specifically tailored for each of their interview subjects. Each of the professionals who were contacted for interviews about the area of interest should receive a personalized letter of thanks via e-mail. The information in the letter should refer to the student's skill and interest as evidenced by the interview. The individuals' contact information will be a part of the action plan and letters of reference will be maintained in the student's portfolio. Guidelines for student thank you notes: The student will create a letter of thanks specifically tailored for each of the professionals who answered their questions. Thank you letters may not be generic "thank you for helping me..." types of letters. Students should remember that these professionals have taken valuable time to write to them and share their advice so they should take the time to thoughtfully write a response. Each personalized letter of thanks should include references to specific pieces of information contained in the interview response that helped students or attracted their particular attention. Suggestions for students: Here are just a few possible examples of how to work specific pieces of valuable information from the interview back into your thank you note to show the professionals that you both READ carefully and TRULY do appreciate their help! Thank you for sharing the information about...with me. I thought it was particularly interesting when you said.... Your advice about ....will be of help in the future because... I appreciated when you mentioned ....because... I didn't know that ... Your emphasis on ...was very interesting to me because... Students will send a draft of each thank you note to their mentor for feedback. They will make suggested corrections and upload the note for final approval from the mentor. After thank you note has been approved, student will print a copy of their letter of thanks for their portfolio. Students will type a list of names of each professional who was contacted and the date thank you notes were sent. Students will turn this information into teacher by a specified deadline. After thank you notes are completed, students will compose a written summary of each interview in order to analyze and synthesize the information presented in the interview. This summary will become a part of their written portfolio.	The sixth portfolio entry will consist of thank you letters to interviewees. The student will create a letter of thanks specifically tailored for each of the professionals who answered their questions. The students will also compose a written summary of each interview in order to analyze and synthesize the information presented in the interview. This summary will become a part of the student's written portfolio. Students: Thank you letters may not be generic "thank you for helping me..." types of letters. Remember that these professionals have taken valuable time to write to you and share their advice with you, so you should take the time to thoughtfully write a response. Each personalized letter of thanks should include references to specific pieces of information contained in the interview response that helped students or attracted their particular attention. Here are just a few possible examples of how to work specific pieces of valuable information from the interview back into your thank you note to show the professionals that you both READ carefully and TRULY do appreciate their help! Thank you for sharing the information about...with me. I thought it was particularly interesting when you said.... Your advice about ....will be of help in the future because... I appreciated when you mentioned ....because... I didn't know that ... Your emphasis on ...was very interesting to me because... Students will send a draft of each thank you note to their mentor for feedback. They will make suggested corrections and upload the note for final approval from the mentor. After thank you note has been approved, student will print a copy of their letter of thanks for their portfolio. Each student and his/her mentor will decide whether to e-mail or to "snail mail" their thank you notes to the professionals who answered their interview questions. Mentors will provide mailing addresses for students if they want their students to mail the letters from school. Students who are to mail their letters will print, address an envelope, and mail their letters from school. CEP Questions: 16. In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the career and education plan that your school expects from you? 17.Describe the core academic requirements for the career you want to pursue. (Note the math requirements, professional writing requirements, etc.) 18. What are the certification requirements, if any, for this career area? Cisco certification, Microsoft certification, etc) 19. What are the professional skills this career area expects you to attain and to use?
7	Mentor Tasks: The mentor will help the student identify current event articles in their career fields of interest. The mentor will suggest current event articles that contain relevant information about their student's field or fields of interest and "discuss" current issues relating to those career fields with the student.	The seventh portfolio entry will be a typed summary of three current event articles relating to the student’s career(s) of interest. The student will read and summarize three (3) current event articles online relating to their field of interest. Students may read multiple articles before selecting the three current events they want to include in this portfolio. To select articles, students should use key word searches such as “psychology current event articles” or “cosmetology current events.” or something similar using their career(s) of interest. Current event articles may be on any topic related to their field as long as they are interesting to the student and relevant to their chosen career field. Student should share their articles with their mentor and “discuss” the significance of the current events and the information they have learned in their day-to-day correspondence. Summaries for each article should include the title and author of the article and should give a brief overview of content and be a minimum of 10-12 sentences in length. Summaries should also include a concluding statement about why this article was of interest to the student and how learning this information will help them as they prepare to become professionals in this field in the future. CEP Questions: 20. How and when will you attain the specific requirements for this career area that you don't have yet? (Tip: Seek advice from your mentor and other professionals.) 21. Where do you need to catch up academically? Note your plan for credit recovery. 22. Describe your top post-secondary choices. (Note trade schools, on-the-job training, career-tech, community college, and four year universities.) 23. What is your top post- secondary choice and why?
8	Creating a Personal Mission Statement and a Plan of Action From all the information that has been gathered, the student will create a Plan of Action. The plan will outline in detail the steps that are needed for the student to be successful in his/her area of interest. It will include courses to take, jobs to have, contacts to make and any other information that the mentor and student decide is important for the particular area. Since it often takes several weeks for students to get interview responses back from professionals, students may jump ahead to this portfolio task and begin working on it with their mentors while they wait for interviews to be returned. It is helpful to students if mentors can share examples of mission statements and give suggestions for creating their plan of action while they are waiting for interviews to be returned to keep collaboration going and encourage them as they wait for their interview responses. As soon as interview responses are returned, students should promptly respond with a thank you note and summary reflecting on the professional interview response. Mentors can give valuable insight into how to respond and what they think is the most important advice contained in the interview and should correspond with the student about various aspects of the interview response and challenge students to really consider the information and not just read and forget it! Student Task: The student will create a plan of action through correspondence with their mentor and reflection on personal goals.	The eighth portfolio entry will consist of two parts: the plan of action and personal mission statement. Student Task: Students will create a Personal Mission Statement and a Plan of Action and using the following guidelines. They will consult with their teacher and mentor while developing their Mission Statement and Plan of Action. The mission statement should express their values, goals, and what they perceive as their life mission. Students should look online and discuss mission statement examples with their mentor. The students should also read examples of personal mission statements from the file their teacher has posted on the school workgroup. Students will proofread their statement and upload it for mentor approval. Developing a Personal Mission Statement—A Mission Statement describes your goals and values The mission statement should express your values, goals, and what you perceive as your life mission. Students should look online and discuss mission statement examples with their mentors. Personal Mission Statement Example: I value my family, my country, and my freedom. I believe in God and in the value of hard work. I truly care about helping others learn and reach their potential. I strive to have a positive attitude, to be kind to others and to help where I am needed. I know I can succeed in my personal goals because I know what I believe in and have set positive goals for myself. I will ask for help from those around me who have my best interests in mind and will work hard and take advantage of learning opportunities. I know I can and will succeed because I have faith in God’s support and am willing to work hard to make my dreams a reality. Read mission statements on student posters around the room and then develop your own using the template below. Template for creating a personal Mission Statement: Mission Statement I value________________________________ and ______________________________________ I believe in__________________________ and in _____________________________________ I truly care about_____________________________and __________________________________ I will keep__________________________________________ _____________________________ I will try to _____________________________________________ _________________________ I will strive for___________________________________________ __________________________ I will work towards_______________________________________ _____________________________ I plan to____________________________________________ ____________________________ I will dedicate myself to____________________________________________ ___________________ I know I can and will succeed because_______________________________________ ____________ Creating an updated Plan of Action From all the information that has been gathered, the student will create a Plan of Action. The plan will outline in detail the steps that are needed for the student to be successful in his/her area of interest. It will include the name of their area of interest, courses to take, jobs to have, contacts to make and any other information that the mentor and student decide is important for the particular area. They will send this entry to their mentor for feedback. Plan of Action Template (should be modified to meet individual student needs/actions/intent): My primary area of interest is the field of__________________. I plan to read ___________ to continue learning as much about my interest as possible and to develop positive habits. I plan on volunteering at ________ to learn more about my area of interest during the next _____________months/years. My current career goal is to (study, earn a degree in, become…) ___________. In order to reach this goal, I plan to apply to and attend_______________ university/college (you may list alternate universities too) and major in _________________. I will contact the _____________at my university of interest to request information and prepare for college entrance and success. The high school and/or college courses (primary curriculum areas) I am currently enrolled in that are most directly related to my interests include ___________________. In order to prepare for a successful start to my postsecondary education, this semester, I am currently addressing the following three educational, social, and/or personal goals (list three areas)___________________ ___________________ and __________________to try to improve my chances of future success. To meet my goal, I plan to develop a better understanding of the following area(s) of college/university interest (examples: schools with excellent programs in my field of interest, scholarships that I would qualify to receive, activities at school, admissions standards, and so on.)____________, _______________, ______________during the next month. In addition, I plan to ______________during the next two months to learn more about ____________. During my first year of college, I plan to ________. During the second year of college, I anticipate _______________. My third year of college, I will be ________________. My fourth year of college will be spent_____________________. Five years from now I plan to_____________________. I hope to live___________________ After that, I will go____________________ and do________________and be__________________. I anticipate success in my future college and career because I have prepared ___________________. I believe I can and will meet my goals because I am determined to _______________. The student will upload the plan of action to the mentor for approval and input. After interaction with mentor, student will print their plan of action and personal mission statement and put it in their portfolio CEP Questions: 24. What is your second post-secondary choice, and why? 25. What is the placement rate of these post-secondary choices? (How many students are hired after graduation?) 26. Which companies hire students from that post-secondary program?
9	Step nine consists of research regarding job interviews and participation in a mock job interview. Student Task: The student will contact his mentor and together they will research, review, and rehearse job interviewing techniques. This will culminate in a mock job interview that each student will have with his mentor (mentor interviews his student) . The interview will be conducted via SKYPE or other similar means and will be videotaped and added to the student's professional portfolio. Mentor Task: The mentor will provide his student information about effective job interviewing skills. Together the mentor and his student will research, review, and rehearse winning job interviewing techniques. This collaborative effort will culminate in a mock job interview that the mentor will conduct with his student. The mock interview will be conducted via SKPE or similar means.	The ninth portfolio will consist of a mock interview each student will have with his mentor. Each interview will be videotaped and included in the student's portfolio. CEP Questions: 27. What are the post-secondary classes that eliminate students from the program? What is you r plan to prepare for those classes so you are not removed from the program? 28.What is the application process for these post- secondary programs and the key requirements to apply? 29. What are the key success factors students need to pay attention to for these post-secondary programs?
10	Preparing to share the project Mentor will share with student suggestions on ways to share their project with an appropriate audience. Student Task: Student will develop tools to help share their final project product plan with mentors online and will finalize and print their portfolio for others to view. They will prepare to present the information gathered during this project to an appropriate audience. Student Task: Student will prepare a PowerPoint or PREZI presentation AND a PowerPoint template-generated poster (using guidelines provided by their teacher) including information gathered during this project and will prepare to share the presentation with an appropriate audience. Teacher will assist students by enlarging/printing project posters on computer generated template. Students will present their PowerPoint or PREZI presentation and PowerPoint template generated posters as a visual aid along with their project portfolios when they present their work to an appropriate audience. PowerPoint or PREZI presentation and Poster will include the following information IN ADDITION to any other information requested by the mentor: The PowerPoint or PREZI presentation and poster will include the following major sections of the project relating to their chosen career that was gathered during the mentor/student research through this program. 1. Student's name, student's school, mentor's name and mentor's company, name of career researched. 2. Names of two top professionals and some of the reasons they are considered outstanding in their field 3. Names, graphic organization symbols, and information about each professional organization researched 4. Summary/Results of interviews with at least three professionals working in their field of interest Professional #1 Name, job description, and top advice Professional #2 Name, job description, and top advice Professional #3 Name, job description, and top advice 5. Personal Mission Statement 6. Personal Action Plan 7. Interesting information (fast-facts, etc) learned about the career 8. College choices and college graphic symbols 9. Closing Statement about the student's short and long-term educational and career goals and comments about what student learned from this project.	Students will create a Poster using a PowerPoint Template and also create a PowerPoint or PREZI presentation. Poster and PowerPoint or PREZI presentation must include the following major sections of the project relating to their chosen career that was gathered during the mentor/student research through this program. 1. Student's name, student's school, mentor's name and mentor's company, name of career researched. 2. Names and summary of information about two top professionals and some of the reasons they are considered outstanding in their field 3. Names, graphic organization symbols, and information about each professional organization researched 4. Summary of interviews with at least three professionals working in their field of interest Professional #1 Name, job description, and top advice/interesting information that was shared Professional #2 Name, job description, and top advice/interesting information that was shared Professional #3 Name, job description, and top advice/interesting information that was shared 5. Personal Mission Statement 6. Personal Action Plan 7. Interesting information (five interesting facts)you learned about the career 8. College choices and college graphic symbols (no other college-related information is required) 9. Closing Statement including how this project has helped direct the student's short and long-term educational and career goals Student will present project to an appropriate audience and discuss career goals, information learned through the research, and share his/her mission statement and action plan with audience. Students will design and create a portfolio cover sheet including the following: Student's first name Benton High School Mentor's name and Company Career Name Mentored Pathways Program Fall, 2018 The cover sheet will also include a picture/graphic relating to the student's chosen career of interest The student will upload their project poster and their PowerPoint presentation to their mentor for approval. CEP Question: 30. Describe any extracurricular or service learning projects you'd like to share.
11	Sharing the Plan Student will share his digital poster and PowerPoint or PREZI presentation with his classmates and with his mentor. The mentor will provide encouragement and presentation tips that will enable the student to make an effective professional presentation. They will discuss chartmanship (creating PowerPoints & PREZIs) along with soft skills to include speaking and presentation skills. br> Student Task: Student will share final project product plan with his classmates and his mentor.	Students will present their work to their classmates and mentor using visual aids, note cards, and applying presentation tips/oral speaking skills practiced in class throughout the semester and gleaned from their mentor. Students should dress appropriately and ensure that all materials are prepared. CEP question: 31. What is the cost breakdown of these post-secondary programs and what is your plan to pay for these costs?
12	Compilation and review of Portfolio of Work: Student Task: The student will document past projects, current Mentored Pathways project, internships, community service, and athletic and academic awards in their personal portfolio of work. The portfolio will be used by the student during the college admissions process--to include applying for scholarships and college internships--, admission to professional schools, and eventually when entering the student's chosen career field. Mentor Task: The mentor will review portfolio entries and offer advice on portfolio entries as well as advice on formatting.	Students will document past projects, current Mentored Pathways project, internships, community service, and athletic and academic awards in their personal portfolio of work. The portfolio will be used by students during the college admissions process--to include applying for scholarships and college internships--, admission to professional schools, and eventually when entering the world of work.
13	Thank you message to mentor Student Task: Send a thank you message to mentor Mentor Task: Respond to student's thank you message	Final Step: Student will write a thank you letter to mentor detailing specific areas that have been especially beneficial during the project.

Project: Fall 2019 College and Career Exploration