Career Exploration and Planning

  • High school courses are an opportunity to explore coursework, skill building and intentional planning toward a credential or degree that supports your future career and a living wage.

    Course Catalog and Class Registration

    The SPS Course Catalog, along with the class registration support you get from your high school, will help you take courses that prepare you for your future career path.

    The school district and high schools look at courses offered and align them to the national 16 Career Clusters to offer career pathways. Career pathways are meant to provide students with a course-taking plan that supports their T24 goals for the future. Talk with your school counselor for more information.

    Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

    What if your school doesn’t offer some of the classes and programs you are interested in? There are a lot of FREE courses online that you can research and take part in to explore your career pathway interests. Below are some examples. (NOTE: These classes are not accepted for credit by the school district for graduation. They are strictly for exploration and enrichment).

    Some courses are on-demand and some have designated start times.

  • Career Exploration

    SchooLinks (8th-12th Grade)

    SchooLinks is the district’s college and career readiness software. Every student in 8th-12th grade has access to the platform via the SchooLinks button on their school’s website. If the student is not on a school computer, their login is their student ID number and their password is their six-digit birthdate.

    SchooLinks provides:

    • Career Assessment
    • College Search
    • Career Search
    • Scholarship Search
    • Course Planning
    • Year-round support and live chat to SchooLinks support, colleges, and career professionals

  • Post-secondary Planning

    Degree/Credential for Employment

    Ideally, College and Career Readiness and Post-Secondary Preparation means helping students navigate the process to pursue education past a high school diploma that leads to a living wage. That can mean not only taking the courses students need to graduate, but also the courses, tests, applications, FAFSA, and other items that enable a student to pursue post-secondary options that prepare them for their future career.

    Financial Aid

    Financial Aid is a broad term that means understanding money sources to pay for post-secondary options. Some options like the military, apprenticeships, or trades, have programs set up where you earn money while serving or learning a trade. Other technical, 2-year, or 4-year college options have a “sticker price” that is often reduced through financial aid sources like grants, scholarships, and loans.

    Start to Finish

    One of the most difficult concepts to convey is how people take winding paths to get to where they want. Some students change their majors at a 4-year college, some students start at a 2-year college and transfer to a 4-year college. Some serve in the military then go to school after their term of service. The most important thing to understand is that students need to ask questions. Ask questions to those in career fields that you are pursuing. Ask them two questions:

    • How did you get to where you are? (This question can help you understand which degrees/credentials supported them in finding their current career, as well as how they navigated financial aid and other difficult items.)
    • Would you have done anything differently? (This question can get at some of the barriers or decisions that the person encountered along the way. Often people want to prevent others from making the same mistakes.)
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