Career Pathways Newsletter

Welcome to CAREER PATHWAYS for the 2025-26 School Year!

Welcome to the first edition of the Career Pathways electronic newsletter! As your Career Pathways Coordinator at White Bear Lake Area High School, I'm thrilled to connect with you and share the amazing opportunities available to our students throughout the year. Our district is committed to providing unique ways for students to explore potential careers, and to make that happen we're working hard to build partnerships with local companies in an effort to embed  state-of-the-art learning inside the classroom! Career Pathways offers numerous classes with industry certifications or college credit attached to the course.

This newsletter is one of many resources we'll use to keep you informed about exciting developments throughout the year, including career exploration events, industry partner guest speakers and job opportunities. We strongly encourage both students and parents to stay up to date by regularly checking the school's website and reaching out to their school counselor or me with any questions. To get the most current information, students and parents can join a Career Pathways Google Classroom using the code on the handout below.

We look forward to supporting our students as they explore and develop their own career map!

Sincerely,

Katy Olson
Career Pathways Coordinator 

What were we up to over the summer?

The White Bear Lake Area High School Automotive Career Pathway was honored to be chosen as the recipient of a vehicle donation from two local car dealerships, Luther Cadillac and White Bear Subaru. 

In an effort to prepare students for a career in the automotive industry, while in turn supplying quality workers to our local industry partners, the donation of the 2018 Subaru Forester allows Automotive Instructor, Derek Doescher, to accomplish both. The average life for a shop car is about 2-2.5 years, according to Doescher, so this donation is of tremendous value to the Automotive program. It is with invaluable support from local industry partners that the WBLAHS Automotive Career Pathway was named the 2025 Automotive Secondary Program of the Year by the Minnesota Transportation Center of Excellence. The Automotive Career Pathway offers two industry certifications within its program, equipping students with skill sets and a resume to land them a job in the industry while still in high school. The Automotive Career Pathway is one of nine Career Pathways offered at WBLAHS. 

Five WBLAHS students spent their summers working for local Vadnais Heights employer, ChromebookParts.com. Students interested in the Information Technology Career Pathway were able to build their skillset and their resume by getting real-world experience with a real-world job.

"I was very impressed with their work ethic, attitude and ability to integrate seamlessly into our workplace and work culture. Each  made valuable contributions to their respective teams and I look forward to working with them again in the future! Best of luck and GO BEARS!"- Production Lead, Chromebook Parts

"Going into this partnership, we weren’t really sure what to expect. I was a little nervous because we were introducing students into a team of repair techs that hadn’t changed much in the past two years. But throughout the process, we saw that everyone actually benefited from it. The veterans, myself included, got the chance to teach and mentor the students, who, from the outside, brought a fresh perspective to the company. The company saw an increase in morale and revenue with more repairs getting done, and I honestly think the students benefited the most — they got to work in an awesome, welcoming work environment, learn about all things Chromebooks, make new friends, and figure out what kind of career they want, whether it’s related to Chromebooks or something else. Thankfully, we were able to keep some of these students on part-time, a few full-time, and some were even interested in returning once school is over. I’m really excited to keep this partnership going, and I look forward to working with more students down the line." Repair Manager, Chromebook parts

 "Going into the summer, I was a little nervous about bringing high school students into our workplace, unsure if they’d be disruptive or need a lot of oversight. But [the students] proved to be an absolute pleasure to work with. They were focused, productive, and a huge help during our busiest season. I hope we were able to give them valuable real-world experience and show what a positive, supportive work environment can look like." Warehouse Manager, Chromebook Parts

We look forward to students continuing their learning by taking the new Computer Hardware Technology (Tech Depot) course and getting additional work experience by working in the Tech Hub right on-campus at the high school! Way to go, Bears!