The Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the Cleveland Foundation are launching a new school curriculum to better help guide CMSD鈥檚 students on a career path after graduation.
It鈥檚 called the Planning and Career Exploration 鈥� or PACE 鈥� curriculum.
The goal, said CMSD CEO Eric Gordon at a kickoff event Monday, is to give students 鈥渘ext steps鈥� toward their career.
鈥淒epending on the career, that could include college, micro-credentials, apprenticeships or even straight into the workforce,鈥� Gordon told the crowd at Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation. 鈥淲e also want students to graduate with the confidence, tools and agency to achieve those goals.鈥�
The PACE curriculum will start with sixth graders and carry through to their senior year in high school.
The idea behind PACE is to expose students to all types of jobs and 鈥渓iving-wage careers鈥� that match their skills and interests, and to ultimately help them create a roadmap to their goal.
In sixth grade, students may get an on-campus visit from a representative of a company to hear about what the company does and what kind of jobs they have, or that student may go on-site to a company to see what they do firsthand.
As students get older, the curriculum will 鈥渘arrow and deepen,鈥� depending on the student鈥檚 interests and abilities, according to Anthony Battaglia, CMSD's executive director of career and college pathways. Students will be involved in internships and job shadowing.
It鈥檚 about supporting every student鈥檚 future, whether they want to go to college or not, according to Battaglia.
鈥淩eally moving to an in-depth experience, where every student will have three and four job shadows prior to graduation. Reflecting on those, so that they can build on what they want their career to look like after they leave us,鈥� Battaglia said.
Students will lead the process, and will be asked to do things like journal and answer questionnaires about PACE-related experiences they鈥檝e had. They鈥檒l be asked to share whether they were interested or not in a specific job or field, why they liked it and if it matches skills they think they have or enjoy using.
CMSD has six anchor organization partners in the PACE initiative, including Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), College Now Greater Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Neighborhood Leadership Institute (True2U), Junior Achievement of Greater Cleveland and the Fund for Our Economic Future
Giving an example of how CMSD鈥檚 partners will be involved, Craig Dorn, CEO of Y.O.U., said younger teens at CMSD will have the chance to get a 鈥渂asic summer job.鈥�
鈥淵ou need to be successful in the workplace, be on time, work hard,鈥� Dorn explained. 鈥淵outh who are further along in their journey are going to have opportunities for either individual internships or group based summer academies, where they can take a deeper dive into understanding a very specific career occupation, anything ranging from health care to construction and anything else you can imagine.鈥�
The Cleveland Foundation is giving CMSD and its partners a $950,000 grant to help implement PACE.
Speaking to the students at the kick-off event, Shana Marbury with Greater Cleveland Partnership which functions as the area's chamber of commerce, said those involved in PACE want to develop young talent as 鈥渙ur region鈥檚 emerging skilled, talent pipeline.
鈥淩ight now, there are thousands of high-skilled and good jobs available in the marketplace,鈥� Marbury said. 鈥淧eople like me are getting old. So, we need you to fill these positions and to continue to make our community grow and thrive.鈥�
Copyright 2021 WCPN. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxMzY2MjQ0MDEyMzcyMDQ5MzBhZWU5NA001))
