Getting READY for the workforce

High school seniors in Cranberry Area School District are preparing for life after graduation through the VenangoREADY program. VenangoREADY is a partnership between the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce and local school districts and career/technical training institutions.

As part of the requirements, seniors at Cranberry Junior-Senior High School complete in-class assignments such as creating resumes and conducting mock interviews with actual employers. According to an article in the News-Herald students are given an application containing six workplace attributes: work ethic, communication, teamwork, tactfulness and manners, critical thinking and problem solving, and understanding supervision. There are several tasks listed under each attribute, and the students are required to complete two or three of those tasks and have their teachers sign off on them.

Heather Motter, who teacher English at the high school and Jai Hubler, who teaches The Problem of Democracy, are teaching students about the six attributes and how to cultivate them in preparation for the workplace. In the article, Motter said she and Hubler are “really excited about having this opportunity, because we feel this is the greatest gift we can give them: preparing them for graduation and what comes after graduation.”

Although the program is only for high school seniors currently, the district hopes to expand it to other grades in the future.