Dupage Policy Journal

The Fenton High School District updated the public on its College and Career Pathways efforts at it latest board meeting.

“We have seven Illinois college and career pathway areas that have been defined by the Illinois State Board of Education,” Michelle Papanicolaou, director of Curriculum and Instruction, said at the Feb. 22 meeting. 

They are: agriculture and natural resources, arts and communication, finance, business services, health sciences and technology, human and public services, information technology, manufacturing, engineering, technology and trades.

“The only thing I usually emphasize on this is you notice it's not just career, but it's college and career,” Papanicolaou said. "All of these career paths can require education and some of them don't. So we're trying to ensure that we're covering the gamut."

She showed the board the resources that the district distributes to incoming freshmen on each field, and the level of jobs and education that can be attained. 

The district has been attentive to letting students know what would be helpful to them if they have a specific path in mind. The district also is expecting to receive its career and college readiness rating from the state. To earn that rating, a district must offer at least three methods of career readiness: military service, dual credit, industry experience, consistent employment, completion of program of study, summer employment, 25 hours of community service, or two or more organization extra curricular activities.

The district is in the process of complying with new state requirements for college and career readiness programs offered to their students. As a part of this effort, it will be launching a new online tool called SchooLinks, which all high school students will be a part of. The program will allow students to sign up for their coursework, apply to colleges, get lessons about careers, connect with professionals, sign up for volunteer hours, learn about jobs and internships available to them, and track their readiness progress. The entire student body will be on this by the start of next school year, Papanicolaou said.