New Partnership Connects Students to Careers

The Phelps County Development Corporation is partnering with the Nebraska Cooperative Extension to offer a new program to area ninth graders to expose them to future career choices.

The Connecting the Dots program has been offered in other counties across Nebraska and is designed to help students “connect the dots” from ninth grade through postsecondary study to the workplace. Students complete a Kuder career exploration test prior to registering to determine their career interests.

PCDC Project Coordinator Alli Donohue said the goal of the program is expose kids at an early age to careers and encourage them to starting thinking about the educational steps to reach that job.

“It also offers an opportunity for local professionals and businesses to demonstrate how each career cluster is represented in Phelps County and that there are local jobs for almost all of the possible career paths they are considering,” Donohue said.

The program uses the standard Career Cluster Wheel that identifies 16 career “clusters.” After student strengths are determined, they will have the chance to visit with employees working in those actual fields.

“This gives them a chance to discover what they are good at and pursue careers in those areas,” Donohue said.

At the event, students will

• Experience a “real life” simulation to learn how their high school choices impact their post secondary study and their workplace experiences.
• Learn more about their favorite careers.
• Learn about the importance of networking as they begin to prepare for their careers.
• Build work readiness skills including resume building and interviewing.
• Complete personality inventories to relate to future jobs.

The program is intended to complement the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce Career Fair on April 6 that invites sophomores from  a wider area to Holdrege to introduce them to potential future employers and careers in Phelps County.

The Connecting the Dots Program will take place March 30 for students in Holdrege, Loomis and Bertrand.

This program is made possible in Phelps County through funding from PCDC.