People may think, “Why ask a three-year-old what they want to be when they grow up?” Or, “They are just babies, let them be kids first.” The way I see it is, why not do both? You can still let kids be kids, expose them to future careers and even do it while learning and playing. Since becoming a HirePaths ambassador, I have really delved into my preschool curriculum and looked at how I could tie careers into our day. Let me explain a few of the ways I did that.
As an agricultural education teacher, I spend my days with students who have a passion and drive to make the world a better place. It is my purpose as their teacher to provide them with as many unique experiences as possible. Post-secondary life is scary. It can be overwhelming, and it is something some students push off until the last moment. Programs like HirePaths allow for us as teachers to help bridge the gap with those students who are dreading life after graduation. Follow along as you see some of the things that HirePaths inspired in my classroom this past year!
In my class, I aim to facilitate inspiration by creating a welcoming and creative space, with the students working together to develop classroom norms. Eliminating a structured environment helps us have real conversations and address the needs of students’ educational journeys without hierarchy. Engaging stories and inspirational videos from HirePaths have given my students a view into careers and opportunities outside of the urban core of Kansas City, Kansas.
When Kansas Corn STEM first began providing free educational resources and supplies for Kansas teachers in 2016, they could never have guessed how far their reach would grow. What started with 20 high school teachers has expanded to 2,613 educators from a wide range of grade levels during the 2022-2023 school year alone.
I’m Kristin Ray, and I teach fifth grade at Wolf Springs Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas. Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, I was a HirePaths Teacher Ambassador. My students loved incorporating career exploration into the classroom, so I’m sharing some of our favorite activities.
Larissa Whitney teaches third grade, class 3B, in Hays, Kansas. She took time to share some of her favorite activities inspired and supported by HirePaths.
As an elementary school teacher, I’ve been integrating career-based education into my classrooms for the last eight years. When I moved into the library four years ago, I was excited because I knew it would allow me to reach more students with important information about their futures. HirePaths helped me implement new career-focused lessons and inspired fun activities for my students. I even applied and won a local grant to bring dramatic play centers into the library for younger learners!