A Time for Exploration.

A Time for Exploration. In middle school career and technical education programs, the nameof the game is "exploration." Middle school education is awash Awash(ä`wäsh), river, E Ethiopia, rising near Addis Ababa and flowing c.500 mi (800 km) to a swampy lake near the Djibouti border. The Awash Valley is important agriculturally and has hydroelectric plants. with contradictions--and nowhereis that more true than in career and technical education. It's tooearly for kids to begin specializing, and yet they are developing a needto connect what they are learning in school to the world beyond.Students at this age are beginning to make decisions that will affecttheir future career options, but they are oftentimes of��ten��times? also oft��timesadv.Frequently; repeatedly.Adv. 1. oftentimes - many times at short intervals; "we often met over a cup of coffee"frequently, oft, often, ofttimes ill equipped tomake these decisions. They need information about educational andtraining opportunities, the world of work, and even about their owninterests and abilities. Middle and junior high school career and technical educationprograms are meeting these challenges head-on and helping kids to investin their futures. Exploring Life's Options At Fairfield Junior High School in Utah, as in all middle-levelschools in that state, early adolescents are introduced to a variety ofcareer options through a year-long program calledTechnology-Life-Careers, or TLC TLCtotal lung capacity; thin-layer chromatography. TLCabbr.1. thin-layer chromatography2. . The defining feature of this program isits cohesiveness and the cooperation among the school's variouscareer-tech teachers and guidance staff. The whole TLC team works withstudents both in and out of the classroom to help them identifyeducational and career goals and set up a tentative plan. Thiscollaboration earned Fairfield Junior High School the "Planning forLife" award in 1997. The award is administered by the NationalConsortium of State Career Guidance Supervisors and sponsored by theU.S. Army. More importantly, TLC gives Fairfield's young students anopportunity to start thinking about their futures in a supportiveenvironment. "At this level--seventh, eighth and ninth grades--wedon't really pressure the kids to come up with a specificcareer," says Jesse DeHay, a counselor at Fairfield. "Our mainobjective is to get the kids, and their parents, to the idea that theycan make their dreams come true. The way to do that is to learn aboutyourself and about what's out there in the world and then to sitdown and make a plan." The program runs on a trimester trimester/tri��mes��ter/ (-mes��ter) a period of three months. tri��mes��tern.A period of three months.TrimesterThe first third or 13 weeks of pregnancy. system with students spending equalamounts of time with teachers in three subject areas--family andconsumer sciences, technology education, and agriculture. But this set up belies the true nature of the program. In additionto these broad categories, students explore business, economics, healthsciences and health technology, and trade skills. They do both hands-onactivities and research to identify the working conditions andeducational requirements of various careers. And they engage in activeself-exploration through interest inventories and lessons on such topicsas learning styles and personality types. This kind of broad exposure and self-reflection is critical inallowing middle schoolers to cultivate cul��ti��vate?tr.v. cul��ti��vat��ed, cul��ti��vat��ing, cul��ti��vates1. a. To improve and prepare (land), as by plowing or fertilizing, for raising crops; till.b. and define their interests and totry on new roles. Furthermore, by exposing students of both genders to avariety of career and technical programs, it may help to combatsex-stereotyped views of occupations. A report put out by theEducational Resources Information Center (ERIC), entitled en��ti��tle?tr.v. en��ti��tled, en��ti��tling, en��ti��tles1. To give a name or title to.2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: "Vocational Education vocational education,training designed to advance individuals' general proficiency, especially in relation to their present or future occupations. The term does not normally include training for the professions. in the Middle School," suggests thatthis kind of sex stereotyping is a significant problem for earlyadolescents and may contribute to limited aspirations aspirationsnpl → aspiraciones fpl(= ambition); ambici��n faspirationsnpl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fpl. This comes as no surprise to DeHay: "We tell the kids, `Ifyou're a woman who wants to be a firefighter, go for it; ifyou're a man who wants to be a nurse, there's nothing wrongwith the nontraditional route.' There are quite a few students who,the first time we start talking about it, say, `What? Really? A man canbe a nurse?!?'" Making Connections Utah isn't the only state in which middle schools require orencourage middle-level students to participate in a year-longexploratory course. Similar programs exist in schools throughout thenation, allowing students to begin to zero in on interests beforetackling more in-depth career and technical programs in high school. But these programs often have more immediate goals as well. InVirginia's Pittsylvania County school system, for example, careerand technical educators work to teach academic concepts throughtechnical projects. "In agriculture and technology ed, we reinforce math andscience constantly," says Dr. Lillian Holland, the county'sDirector of Vocational Education. She explains that a seventh-grade unit on computer assisted drawing(CAD) provides an excellent link to the science curriculum."Students follow diagrams and build simple machines in CAD and gointo designing their own, giving them some exposure and showing them howa lever works, how a pulley pulley,simple machine consisting of a wheel over which a rope, belt, chain, or cable runs.A grooved pulley wheel like that used for ropes is called a sheave. works." Another unit on weights andmeasurements is directly linked with a math class. Likewise, a new hydroponics hydroponics,growing of plants without soil in water to which nutrients have been added. Hydroponics has been used for over a century as a research technique, but not until 1929 were experiments conducted solely to determine its feasibility for growing commercial system in one of the county's fourmiddle schools allows agriculture teacher George Noland and his studentsto study the plant life cycle and other biology concepts, taking some ofthe pressure off of the core science program. By creating such a tangible link to academic subject areas, middleschool CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) The difference between the way two materials expand when heat is applied. This is very critical when chips are mounted to printed circuit boards, because the silicon chip expands at a different rate than the plastic board. teachers can make the relevance of education seem lessabstract. This is especially important at a time when, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. theERIC report, many students lose interest in school, setting the stagefor poor academic performance in the future and even leading somestudents to eventually drop out. This reinforcement of basic academic standards may also help middleschool career tech programs weather the Bush education bill, whichrequires annual testing of students in grades 3-8. Cooking Up New Interests Anne Balzarini, one of this year's nominees for the DisneyAmerican Teacher Award, is a 20-year veteran of middle school education.Every year at Plymouth South Middle School in Plymouth, Massachusetts :This article is about the town of Plymouth in Massachusetts. See also Plymouth, England or Plymouth (disambiguation). Plymouth (historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. ,some 700 students filter through her family and consumer sciencesclassroom--lint only for half a term at a time. The exploratory model of career and technical education in middleschools which offers so many benefits to students also offers achallenge: with such a limited time to gel to know students beforepassing them on to another component of the program, how can teachershelp students become truly invested in the subject matter or in theirown learning? Balzarini's Supper Club Noun 1. supper club - usually a small luxurious nightclubcabaret, night club, nightclub, nightspot, club - a spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink; "don't expect a good meal at is an answer to that question. The10-lesson, after-school course sprung out of desire to be able to covermore than just the basics. It's also, in part, a response to thepressures of an increasingly hectic hec��tic?adj.1. Characterized by intense activity, confusion, or haste: "There was nothing feverish or hectic about his vigor"Erik Erikson.2. world. "I see so many kids who don't eat right," Balzarinisays. "They come to school, and they haven't eaten breakfast,and we sit down and talk about how they eat. They don't eat dinnerwith their families. They sit in front of the TV, or their parentsaren't home and leave a ten dollar bill for them to order whatevertakeout TakeoutA financing to refinance or take out another loan. they want." The Supper Club began last year and is funded by a state grant, sothat any student can take the course at no cost. It is so popular that alottery system is used to enroll interested sixth graders. Balzarinilimits class size to 20 students per session but had to add an extrasession late last year to accommodate more students. "I have this following of kids now who want to cook withme," says Balzarini. "I never had that before, and I taughtfor 20 years." Early lessons of the Supper Club focus on basics like tablemanners--Balzarini says most of her students don't know Don't know (DK, DKed)"Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how toproperly hold a knife and fork when they first meet--and then progressto the ins and outs ins and outs?pl.n.1. The intricate details of a situation, decision, or process.2. The windings of a road or path. of cooking until, before they know it, her studentsare preparing full menus. The Supper Club also provides Balzarini and her students anopportunity to forge personal relationships. These kinds ofrelationships with adults are important for the healthy socialdevelopment of young adolescents. They are also one of the greatest joysof teaching. "We really become like a family," Balzarini says."It's such a great feeling. We all sit down together, and theyuse the manners they've learned." It's too early to tell, but Balzarini and her principal jokeabout enrollment in the high school culinary cu��li��nar��y?adj.Of or relating to a kitchen or to cookery.[Latin culn arts program skyrocketingas Supper Club students work their way through the system. These arestudents who might otherwise never have discovered an interest incooking. It may have been too late by high school, when standards andrequirements become more rigid, and extracurriculars begin to demandmore commitment. But even if most of Balzarini's students decide to pursueother options, they come away from her with an enhanced palate palate(păl`ĭt), roof of the mouth. The front part, known as the hard palate, formed by the upper maxillary bones and the palatine bones, separates the mouth from the nasal cavity. of lifeskills, proving that career and technical education can and should beviewed as part of the basic, general education appropriate for middleschool-aged kids. An Introduction to Medicine But does a general education exclude specialization A career option pursued by some attorneys that entails the acquisition of detailed knowledge of, and proficiency in, a particular area of law.As the law in the United States becomes increasingly complex and covers a greater number of subjects, more and more attorneys are altogether?Jack Moore, the principal of Fort Miller Middle School in Fresno,California “Fresno” redirects here. For other uses, see Fresno (disambiguation).Fresno is the sixth-largest city in California and the county seat of Fresno County, with an official Census Bureau estimated population of 481,035 as of July 1, 2006. , and the founder and creator of the new Medical MagnetAcademy there, doesn't think so. The academy, a school-within-a-school in its first year, infusesthe district's core middle school program with a medical theme. Inaddition, it allows students to get an in-depth look at medical careersthrough a partnership with Valley Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties. . While this may seem like a very narrow focus for such youngstudents, a closer look reveals that, in many ways, the hospital servesas a microcosm mi��cro��cosm?n.A small, representative system having analogies to a larger system in constitution, configuration, or development: "He sees the auto industry as a microcosm of the U.S. for the world of work at large. Says Moore, "They've got the whole gamut See color gamut. gamut - The gamut of a monitor is the set of colours it can display. There are some colours which can't be made up of a mixture of red, green and blue phosphor emissions and so can't be displayed by any monitor. of careersthere--some of which don't require a PhD or even four years ofcollege--so kids can see where you can go with a two-year degree or withtrade school." The half-year, required "Intro to Medicine" is largely acareer exploration class. It begins with a look at the whole range ofcareer options available before delving into medical careersspecifically. It focuses on four career tracks, in particular, with verydifferent requirements and working conditions: physician, technician,dietician dieticianNutritionist A health professional with specialized training in diet and nutrition and care provider, which includes attendants, surgical nursesand everything in between. Likewise, the eighth-grade "Field Study" class commenceswith a general career and life skills unit. Moore says the objectives ofthis unit, which is called Clinical Protocol, are to "teach kidshow to relate to others, how to dress to impress, those sorts of basicskills that you need to go out there in the world and present yourselfin the best possible way." Students put these skills to use when they are matched, in smallgroups, with hospital workers for a mentoring/job shadowing project. Andthey'll no doubt use them time and time again as they move into theworkforce. Other aspects of the Medical Magnet Academy are also generallyapplicable to a wide range of career objectives. For instance, academyinstructors place a high emphasis on the use of technology, fromMacintosh G4 laptops available for student checkout to telecommunicationequipment used to communicate with hospital professionals betweenvisits. Students who desire to may continue into any of three local highschool programs with a similar focus. But this is by no means arequirement, nor is participation in the Fort Miller Medical MagnetAcademy a prerequisite pre��req��ui��site?adj.Required or necessary as a prior condition: Competence is prerequisite to promotion.n. to these high school programs. "We're giving kids a very strong program in math, scienceand medical issues," says Moore. "If they want to domedicine--and some kids know at this age that they want to be adoctor--then what's nice about this program is that they cancontinue all the way through high school. But if they don't want togo into medicine, the program is rigorous enough that they can dowhatever they want. There's nothing here holding back the kid whowants to be an engineer." And that, after all, is what career and technical programs in themiddle school should be all about: giving kids options, letting themdevelop new interests and try on new roles. That way, they'rebetter equipped to take their educational and career futures into theirown hands as they enter into high school.Lemon SorbetCourtesy of Anne Balzarini's Supper Club4 cups water2 cups sugar2 teaspoons grated lemon peel1-1/4 cups lemon juice In a large saucepan, combine water, sugar and lemon peel. Bring toa boil until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.Cool to room temperature, then add the lemon juice. Freeze in ice creammaker A domestic ice cream maker or ice cream freezer is a machine used to make small quantities of ice cream at home. Ice cream makers may stir the mixture by hand-cranking or with an electric motor, and may chill the ice cream by using a freezing mixture, by pre-cooling the according to manufacturer's directions OR pour into a loafpan, cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer freezerthe compartment in which meat and offal are stored at freezing temperatures of 10 to 16��F (-12 to -9��C) although there is a trend to lower temperatures of 0 to -22��F (-18 to -30��C). for 3-6 hours. To serve, scrape See scraping. the surface with an ice cream scoop. For asmoother sorbet, process frozen mixture in a blender or food processoruntil all large lumps have turned to slush slush?n.1. Partially melted snow or ice.2. Soft mud; slop; mire.3. Nautical Grease or fat discarded from a ship's galley.4. A greasy compound used as a lubricant for machinery. . Makes about 2 quarts. Four Simple Steps To Strengthening Career and Technical Educationand Exploration in Your Middle School 1. Become familiar with the SCANS report: The Secretary'sCommission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) 1991 report, What WorkRequires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000, is still one ofthe most comprehensive surveys of the basic skills needed for success inany line of work. Most can easily be incorporated into the middle schoolcurriculum, no matter what the subject area. A user-friendly summary ofthe report can be found online at: www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as7scans.htm 2. Work closely with counselors and academic subject-area teachers:By coordinating efforts with other educators, you may be able to delvemore deeply rather than just repeating what's already being done inanother venue. Interdisciplinary in��ter��dis��ci��pli��nar��y?adj.Of, relating to, or involving two or more academic disciplines that are usually considered distinct.interdisciplinaryAdjective projects can have more meaning forstudents, so that concepts stay with them longer. Also, by workingclosely with other educators who see your students on a regular basis,you'll be able to more quickly and effectively respond to the needsor problems of a particular student. 3. Initiate job shadowing opportunities and career fairs: Studentsat this age benefit from every possible opportunity to converse (logic) converse - The truth of a proposition of the form A => B and its converse B => A are shown in the following truth table:A B | A => B B => A ------+---------------- f f | t t f t | t f t f | f t t t | t t withadults about their career and educational choices. Invite adults fromall walks of life to share their experiences with your students. 4. Focus on concerns relevant to early adolescents: While it'simportant that they start thinking about the future, most students atthe middle school level are much more concerned with the present. Helpearly adolescents identify their interests and potential career choiceswhile engaging them in projects that interest them now. For example, letstudents choose the topic in a Web page design unit, have studentsconstruct CD-holders rather than stools in a woodworking unit, or focuson pets in an animal science unit.