Welcome to the second edition of the SUHSD Work-Based Learning Newsletter which will highlight just a few of the many exciting things that our district is doing in Career Technical Education (CTE). Students are back on campus, and we are implementing a mix of both in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities, allowing us to maximize our volunteer pool and offer the safest environment for students and professionals alike.
The following is a look back at the Fall of 2021 and we are busy planning the Spring of 2022. We would love to have you participate! Sign-up here to learn more or volunteer.
Guest Speakers
Guest speaking is an easy and fun way to engage with students. Professionals generally are asked to join us for 30-45 minutes, with a 25-30 minute long presentation, and 5-10 minutes of Q&A at the end; it is especially effective if the presentation is interactive and engages the students by asking them questions or giving them a small challenge during the presentation.
The presentation component could include:
- An overview of your career pathway, beginning with what you were interested in in high school, college, early jobs, etc., and what you do today. Answer this question: If you could give your HS self some advice, what would it be.
- What key steps do you think helped make you successful? Was there an opportunity that you took? A risk? An important mentor or job? Have you ever had challenges working with team members? Please explain.
- Then talk about some of the exciting technology that you work with or direct today. Can you give them a challenge to demonstrate this? Please share some of your work with us!
- Finally, wrap up by bringing it down to their level, what 1-2 steps can they do now? Join a club or team, meet with a teacher, etc.
Note: The cover photo is Luke Hale, Global Head of Production at Shootsta speaking over zoom to Menlo-Atherton's Digital Filmmaking class.
Pictured here: W.L.Butler's Women in Construction representatives Jenni Burke, Megan Shaw & Angelica Jimenez inspired Redwood's female students to try the Building & Construction Trades class and tripled their numbers.
Pictured to the left is Dr. Jeanne Rosner, Founder, SOULFoodSalon speaking to Sequoia HS Food & Nutrition students about the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate.
STUDENT WORK
Inspired by professionals, students create their own projects.
Audio Production
Raphael Kauffmann teaches an Audio Production class at Woodside High School. The class uses Pro Tools and the introductory curriculum starts with MIDI programming, signal flow, using effects, sound design for film, recreating all sound effects and dialogue as well as pulling from the sound effects library. This is a project that took his CTE class almost 2 months to complete and approximately 15 students were involved in engineering it. Click on the link below to listen for yourself!
Construction & Building Trades
James Bender, the Construction & Building Trades teacher at Redwood High School, and his students are building a chicken coop, practicing a formal building plan. Pictured here are the foundation and framing. We are so thankful to Truebeck Construction for sharing the following professionals to offer information about their roles, inspect the work and give suggestions:
- Hannah Helwig, Project Engineer
- Marc Scheulin, Senior Project Manager
- Waheeb Thabit, Project Engineer
- Peter Kamages, Superintendent
Digital Communications
Menlo-Atherton High School's YouTube Channel. Produced and kept up, by Mr. Giambruno's Video Production, Computer Animation, and Computer Academy students. Also home of The M-A Weekly Report, a weekly, and soon-to-be bi-weekly video announcement. Subscribe to keep track of all the latest events at M-A.
Mentoring
- Build a stronger community
- Inspire a student
- Promote your industry
SUHSD has 6 mentor programs with 300+ mentors. Mentoring looks a little different this year with students on campus and mentors on zoom, but the objectives of the program are the same. Here are the specific objectives for Sequoia HS:
Sequoia High School's Digital Arts & Health Careers Academy students enjoyed a snack before zooming with their mentors.
