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Sam Rayburn students get connected with future careers

More than 100 Sam Rayburn High School students connected with their futures recently at the school's Career Connection, which showcased a myriad of business professionals for students to speak with.

Students visited with an artist, an aviation mechanic, real estate agent, hotel manager, insurance agent, attorney and representatives from different military branches. Students were placed on committees and helped with the publicity, food and decorations for the event.

"It was exciting to see students and their parents involved in such an endeavor," said Sam Rayburn junior English teacher Donna Cox. "The greatest benefit of all the hard work is that the students had the opportunity to interface with people in the marketplace. The students felt a sense of accomplishment as well as a sense of hope and direction for their future."

Sam Rayburn junior Maria De Leon said her favorite guest was Ron Jungman, an aviation mechanic for Southwest Airlines.

"He told me about how it was more exciting to work on planes than being an auto mechanic because in the sky you can't just stop and get someone to help you, so you have to be really careful," she said.

Another junior Chad Kelly said the Career Connection was a great opportunity for him.

"Being able to speak with people from different career backgrounds inspired me to expand my possibilities and unlock doors to my future," he said.

Career Connection was the culminating event of a program called Project Breakthrough that was implemented at the school through a $5,000 grant from the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation.

Project Breakthrough allowed 400 Sam Rayburn students to complete The Birkman Method questionnaire by Birkman International, an online personality assessment questionnaire and a series of related report sets that facilitate team building, executive coaching leadership development, career counseling and interpersonal conflict resolution.

"Project Breakthrough has proven to be an effective, innovative approach to career counseling because it provides an online interactive and self-interpretive report that can be accessed not only by the student, but by the student's parents and teachers as well," said Cox who was the grant coordinator. "By working with the students on this level, I have been able to create a strong bond of trust and enrich the overall classroom environment."

Birkman provided the 400 questionnaires for Sam Rayburn students, normally $300 per person, at $10 each. Birkman also provided the week-long training and certification for Cox so she could consult with students after they took the questionnaire and covered the cost of printing the reports. The grant will also allow an additional 130 students to take the assessment.

"It has been said that as many as 60 percent of students who graduate from high school do not have a specific career focus," Cox said. "This causes students who pursue a college education to make faulty academic course choices and spend additional time and financial resources in pursuit of their college degree. Students who choose not to pursue a college degree bounce from job to job and eventually gravitate to a career with little fulfillment of financial reward."

The 298-question assessment combines motivational, behavioral and interest evaluations into one single assessment reviewing each student on an individual basis rather than clumping them into a career category. The questionnaire includes five major perspectives of usual behavior, underlying needs, stress behaviors, interests and organizational focus.

"The teacher-guided career feedback made it possible for students to make a career choice based on knowledge rather than on a whim or a shallow career assessment," Cox said. "Through this project, we hope to increase the number of students who graduate and find a fulfilling college major of a fulfilling career. We can't thank the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation and Birkman International enough for their generosity."