Creating their own success story

St. Philip High School’s senior internship is a rite of passage, the capstone of BCACS’ Crayons to College and Career program. This year, teacher Debbie Evans transformed this rite of passage into a bridge to the future.

“My number one goal was to build capacity in these students,” said Ms. Evans, a shared-time teacher with the Math and Science Center. “I come from the college level and I see the number one thing students struggle with is not college, it’s self-advocacy – having enough capacity to know they can open doors on their own. I wanted them to have a success story out of this.”

Ms. Evans used her background in professional development to turn the internship class into a project-based learning experience.

Each student had to find, design, complete and evaluate their own internship. Ms. Evans’ role was one of empowerment.

“The students were in the driver’s seat and that was very intentional,” Ms. Evans said. “I was really just a powerful cheerleader.

Ms. Evans helped students examine their aspirations, current skill sets, and personal strengths. Using these results, students determined their “skill gaps” and what type of internships would close these gaps.

Students created electronic portfolios and researched potential employers. Ms. Evans taught them strategies to get past an organization's gatekeeper. She conducted mock interviews with students, so they could up the odds of being hired.

When the students were ready, they called these businesses themselves.

Ms. Evans coached them through setbacks and pushbacks but didn't directly interfere or intervene. Along the way, some students, parents and even staff members voiced concerns, but Ms. Evans was staunch about everyone “trusting the process”.

The process worked. Every single student found their own internship.

As their field work progresses, students continually evaluate the goals they co-created with their employers. Evidence matters, as does the results.

“I thought that I would just do a lot of observing and maybe taking notes, but after the first week, I was given a dog to work with to learn firsthand, which I think tremendously affected how much I've learned,” said McKenna Haley, who is serving her internship at DogZone.

McKenna Haley found her internship at DogZone, where she is gaining experience working with animals. She plans to study Animal Behavioral Science in college and hopes to train service animals in the future.

“Sometimes, during a meeting or something, I'll catch myself falling in love with the job a little bit,” said Meagan Casterline, whose internship with event planner Jennifer Darling may include a trip to New York City. “I love how this internship is coaching my brain to think like an event planner would.”

Meagan Casterline [front, right] with Jennifer Darling [front, left] and the members of the Deep Fried Pickle Project [back row], during a concert Megan helped Ms. Darling organize as part of her internship.

The most important result for Ms. Evans is self-reliance.

“What has been most empowering is watching the students physically and mentally shift because they realized they made this happen,” Ms. Evans said. “This isn’t something someone did for them. This is something they intentionally created.”

Our seniors are doing amazing things, which is why, starting this week, our BCACS Blog will host a “Senior Spotlight”. Every Thursday until graduation, we will highlight different members of the Class of 2017. Read more about their internships, their aspirations, and where they plan to “grow” after graduation.

Middle school students take the road less traveled...

St. Joseph Middle School was empty on March 3, 2017, but school was still in session.

All-girl and all-boy teams crisscrossed the city, exploring careers not typically associated with their gender.

This hands-on “Nontraditional Career Fair” is part of our Crayons to College and Career program. Kellogg Community College hosted the event, which was funded by a Calhoun Intermediate School District grant.

The girls began the day at the Regional Manufacturing Technology Center, exploring heating ventilation and cooling, pipefitting, robotics, maintenance, machining, automated manufacturing, electronics, and computer-aided design.

Meanwhile, the boys were on KCC’s main campus, exploring health field careers, such as physical therapy, radiation, magnetic resonance imaging, emergency medical services, and nursing.

“The girls jumped as sparks flew from the welding and electricity demonstrations and the boys were startled by a mannequin in the nursing simulation that sat up and said he was going to be sick,” said Katie Reed, St. Joseph assistant principal.

After lunch, the girls and boys switched locations.

“It was truly an amazing experience for our students to learn and understand the many opportunities that their future could hold while also gaining an appreciation for the people who work in manufacturing, teuchnology, and health fields,” Ms. Reed said.

The day was also unique because each ten-member team consisted of different grades.

“At the beginning of the day [my group] was kind of quiet, by the end of the day, I feel we had formed a little sisterhood,” said Kyra Rabbitt, director of student services and creator of Crayons to College and Career.

Students completed anonymous surveys afterward, showing an increase in nontraditional career awareness.

“We definitely saw movement and growth in terms of what they felt like they knew about the careers that they visited,” Mrs. Rabbitt said.

Many students saw careers they wanted to pursue.

“When we controlled the robot and checked the pulse and the heartbeat, it made me feel like a real nurse.”

“The best part was I got to learn about other jobs that I wasn’t interested in until now.”

“I can’t wait to be old enough to attend these classes. Thank you for this amazing school trip!”

Although a majority of students want to return next year, Mrs. Rabbitt favors doing so on a three-year rotation. She wants to keep college and career exploration fresh for our middle school students.

Future Crayons to College and Career opportunities may include investigation of creative fields or financial literacy classes as it applies to college.

Whatever form these programs take, our students can count on more “nontraditional” school days.

“This is an opportunity for us to grow and continue to provide college and career programming for students at their level,” Mrs. Rabbitt said.

Learning the ABCs of character

I received a lovely surprise last week. My daughter was named “student of the month” for the freshman class. Her nomination had nothing to do with grades or extra-curricular activities, but kindness.

How cool is that?

St. Philip High School's "Students of the Month" for Kindness

Kindness is one of several “student of the month” themes our middle and high schools celebrate. The list includes qualities like leadership, service, wisdom, cooperation, graciousness, honesty, patience, positive attitude, responsibility.

Why not test scores? We have some of the best in the area.

Why not athletic success? We have our share of swag.

Why not? Because that is not Christ’s definition of success.

St. Joseph Middle School's "Students of the Month" for Leadership

The two most important commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Talents are gifts from God, but these gifts are ineffective without good character. Our Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools aim to develop our children’s character alongside their gifts.

This is evident in our new program “Crayons to College and Career”, which recently received a grant from the Calhoun ISD. Creator Kyra Rabbitt wanted to encourage our littlest Tigers to think about higher education and their future goals.

What does it take for a successful future?

Most would say good grades and a great plan, but Ms. Rabbitt and her team believe there’s another component.

“Life is about more than grades and what you can put on paper,” Ms. Rabbitt said. “You need personal skills and to be strong in your faith. We want to celebrate the whole student and not just the academic piece.”

This is why “Crayons to College and Career” is starting with the ABCs of character.

Each week, our preschool through fifth-grade students will concentrate on two character traits, starting with “A for Attitude” and “B for Behavior”. Teachers will lead class discussions about these traits, read special books that correspond with these traits, and, at the end of the week, nominate students who best exemplify those traits.

It’s a mini-version of the middle and high school’s student of the month.

St. Joseph Elementary School's "Students of the Week" for Attitude and Behavior

All nominated students will attend a year-end celebration breakfast, during which a lottery will determine ten $100 college scholarships winners.

“We are so proud of all of our students and their daily behavior and hope this program will enhance traits they already possess, encourage new behaviors, all while instilling the importance of higher education for future success,” St. Joseph principal Sara Myers said.

There are plenty of talented people in the world, but not enough people with good character. Good character enables us to use our talents to love God and our neighbors.

Our Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools cultivate good character, promising our children a bright future in this life and the life to come.

How cool is that?

Comments, questions, have a few suggestions? Write us at BCACS.Blog@gmail.com.