Career Readiness and Mentorship Program

2020-2021

ITW David Speer Academy has decided to engage in remote instruction in an effort to protect the health of all students, staff and families. For this reason, we are unable to offer students traditional internships in the 2020-2021 school year. Below is an overview of the career readiness and mentorship class we will offer our seniors.

Speer Academy’s remote learning plan:

• Instruction will be remote for the first semester (September 8, 2020-January 22, 2021).
• We will resume in-person instruction when it is safe to do so and as informed by the comfort levels of staff, students and families.
• Regardless of whether or not we return to in-person instruction, mentorships will remain virtual through the end of the school year.

Career Readiness class objectives:

• To give students the opportunity to investigate and extensively research a career of interest before investing time and money into their post-secondary education.
• To connect students to professional mentors who can guide them through their research and through the development of their career readiness.
• To prepare students to enter a professional environment. Specifically, students will:
  • Discover their aptitudes and interests and use that information to move forward on a career path of their choice.
  • Compose a strong resume that highlights their experience and skills that are relevant to the position they are applying for.
  • Prepare for and practice the components of a strong job interview.
  • Understand the importance of networking and making professional connections and use that knowledge to connect with their mentors and to reach out to other professionals in their field of interest.
  • Strengthen their professional written and verbal communication.
  • Recognize essential interpersonal skills in a professional setting and how those skills can transfer to their next professional experience.
  • Demonstrate the ability to use positive social skills.
  • Recognize the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in specific school, social, and work settings.

What mentorship looks like:

• All meetings will be virtual and take place on Zoom.
• Mentors are matched with 2-3 mentees during the school year.
• Mentors commit to meeting with their 2-3 mentees on Wednesdays from October to May during the dates below. Mentors will meet with their mentees simultaneously.
• Meetings should last 30 minutes to 1 hour and should be scheduled during a reoccurring time between the hours of 1pm-4pm.
• Mentors decide a consistent time to meet each week in accordance with their schedules. They communicate this time with the mentorship coordinators and with their mentees and send an reoccurring zoom meeting link. If a student does not show up to a meeting, the mentor should communicate with the mentorship coordinators immediately.
• Topics of discussion will relate to the content students are learning about in their career readiness class. See calendar below.
• Mentorship coordinators will provide a flexible agenda for each meeting at the beginning of each week. This agenda will be sent to both the supervisor and the student.
• Students will be responsible for knowing the content of the agenda, sharing their learning/research, and actively participating in each meeting.
• Mentors will help connect students to other professionals in their field or network to help them with their career research.
• Mentors fill out a brief feedback form after each meeting with students, providing input on the level of preparation, participation and engagement.

Mentor Next Steps: Are you ready to commit?

All mentors must complete the mentor onboarding process prior to working with students:

• ​Step 1: Fill out this form with your information

• Step 2: After receiving your form, ​Caroline and I will send over a​ Memorandum of Understanding ​between Speer Academy and Mentor Host Organization

• Step 3: All mentors must review and sign​ the Memorandum of Understanding​ by September 18, 2020. A representative at ​your place of employment ​(Mentor Host Organization​)​ must also sign, approving your participation in the program.