Career Pathways Newsletter

Medtronic & WBLAHS Black Excellence Club Learn Together

On January 19, Medtronic employees Lauren Morgan-Evans, Gwendolyn Davis, and Loris Azo visited students from the Black Excellence Club to enjoy lunch together and share with students how they can pursue a career in STEM after high school. From chemistry to product engineering to research, the Medtronic Team who represent the Medtronic Black Engineers Group encouraged students to be a part of the ever-changing field.

Thank you to Miles Webb who runs the Black Excellence Club and is a District 624 Educational Equity Specialist. Miles continues to create innovative and fun learning opportunities for our students. This event was sponsored by the generous grant support of Vadnais Heights Area Community Foundation.

Picture left to right (back): Miles, Phillip, Bemnet, Gwendolyn, Aliyah, Precious, Loris, Malcolm, and Ayanna; (front): Najma, Shahd, Ja'Sean, Gabby, and Lauren.

Learn2Build Donates Classroom Kits

Learn2Build continues to support WBL Career Pathways. This year, they donated a variety of classroom kits to Tech Ed Teacher, Phil Sundblad's classroom at Sunrise Park Middle School. Sundblad and his students were given over 100+ bird feeders, 90+ electrical panels, hammers, and safety glasses to continue experiencing hands-on activities in the classroom. 

Learn2Build provides construction career exposure for middle school youth by offering activity kits, hands on events such as construction camps and afterschool programming, and resources for teachers to use in their  classrooms. For more information, contact Mary DesJarlais at mary@constructioncareers.org.

Youth Skills Training Grant Supports District 624 Staff

WBL Career Pathways and the Automotive Career Pathway are in their first year of utilizing the generous funds from MN DLI's Youth Skills Training Grant. In an effort to continue exposing students and staff members, Automotive Career Pathway Instructor, Derek Doescher hosted a learning opportunity for faculty & staff at WBLAHS - South Campus to learn about basic car care. He covered important topics related to brakes, oil, transmission, coolants, make, model, year, vin numbers, tire pressure, tread, rotation, and much more!

Pictured: Derek, Patricia, and Kathleen

Auer Steel and S&R Heating & Cooling Visit Classes

Local industry partners continue to show up and help support our students during these difficult times. On January 19, Greg Olson from Auer Steel and Scott Sicard from S&R Heating & Cooling visited Joshua Dery’s Career Pathway Classes to teach students about HVAC Careers.

Did you know nationwide there are over 400,000 HVAC positions open?  Greg and Scott exposed students to a variety of job opportunities and also sponsored a hands-on activity for students to practice welding and soldering copper pipes for air conditioning and refrigeration materials. S&R Heating & Cooling is one of our new industry partners who offers job shadowing opportunities to WBL Career Pathway students and tuition reimbursement opportunities for their employees.

Pictured: Scott & Hailey

Students Compete at HOSA's Mid-Winter Conference

This school year, WBL Career Pathways and the Health & Wellness Career Pathway added HOSA. On January 5, Health & Wellness Career Pathway students participated in the HOSA Mid-Winter Conference at St. Paul College. Students competed in HOSA Bowl, research presentations, skills competitions, and more.

Thanks to the generous support of the White Bear Area Educational Foundation's Brosious Grant, students were able to create a sustainable program to pilot and experience HOSA events and learning opportunities this school year. The grant allowed the students to pay for membership fees, attend conferences, purchase competition apparel, and buy research materials needed to compete.

Pictured left to right - Xiaoyun, Nadia, Nika, Lily, Ali, Malia, and Shahd.

Thank You to:

• Angela Harris and Marisa McGlynn for meeting with students about the wide world of Psychology, Therapy, and Social Work.
• Randy Jaskin, Robert Beaver, and Haley from Century College for hosting our IT Exploration students from WBLAHS - North & South Campuses. Students enjoyed the tour and learned a ton about additive & digital manufacturing, biofabrication, cybersecurity, enterprise computer technology and much more!
• Dawn Hank and her team at Dental Kidds for hosting another job shadow and helping the student solidify her decision to pursue Dental Hygiene as a career!
• Pete Goscinski and his team at Fairway Collision & Automotive for hosting a job shadow to help an Automotive Career Pathway student learn about the specific career in the Automotive Industry.
• Northern Tool & Equipment for the fabulous video and support of our CTE programs. 

• Kate Bosworth from Doar Drill & Skow, Attorneys at Law for helping one of our Business Career Pathway students learn about how to pursue and be successful with a career in law.

ARE YOU STILL HIRING?

Send jennifer.moore@isd624.org your job description today!