F4KNewsletter

A NOTE FROM OUR TEAM

	“We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.” That was the response here at F4K to a letter from Leslie Farris, one of our educators and the 2006-07 Teacher of the Year for Jacobs Fork Middle School in Newton, telling us about her experience with F4K in the classroom. And since we really couldn’t have said it better ourselves, we wanted to share her letter with you, so you can get an insider’s view of the impact you are having through F4K. F4K isn’t just about exploring careers; it’s about exploring futures and empowering kids to dream, and more importantly, to succeed. Thanks for partnering with us, -the F4K team

SAY WHAT?
	“F4K is wonderful for our students and career teachers in Catawba County. I am so thankful that we have access to it. It has made students love coming to my career explorations class. The matchmaker quiz matches students very well with their interests. Students are amazed when they look at the careers that F4K has chosen for them. Many of the ones they already had in mind show up [as well as] many that they had never thought of and can learn about. It is extremely rare that a student cannot find the career they are searching for or at least one very similar that they can use. As a teacher, F4K has helped me out tremendously. Before F4K, I had to have students go into several different websites to find information that is now all in one with F4K. F4K even has military careers listed with information. Most career sites do not. This is wonderful as I have many students wanting to go into this field. F4K allows me to walk the students through each NC Pathway, so they can choose the right one for their 4-year [Graduation] Plan. Being able to do the 4-year plan right in F4K is awesome. It allows the plan to be much more accurate and it is saved right there for the [high school] counselors to see. The students really learn a lot about the different careers through F4K. They particularly like reading the interviews and “A Day in the Life” is really helpful to them. There is no other career website that I have been on that gives detailed descriptions to the students of what a day in that career would be like. The students also love looking up the earnings of careers in different states. They are amazed at the difference, so we have to learn all about the cost of living related to salaries. The discussion boards are a big help to our students. They love to post questions to the career coaches and come in each day and check their locker for a response. Many use the responses in their career presentations to the class. Student examples I had one student this year who wanted to be a veterinarian until she read the interviews. She just loves animals and that’s why she had thought she wanted to be a vet, She looked up other careers related to animals and with further research realized that a zoologist was more along the lines of what she was interested in. Several of the students this year have wanted to be doctors but had no idea that there were so many different types. They researched and narrowed it down to the one they were most interested in. There are many students that have really been inspired after finding a job in F4K and that have said now they know what they need to do to achieve the career. I have students come in often and tell me that they were on F4K the night before at home. Overview of how I use F4K in the classroom I will just give you an overview of how we use F4K in my classroom here at Jacobs Fork Middle School. Of course, all of the students take the Matchmaker quiz on the first day of the career unit. They then look through all the matchmaker careers, paying special attention to the careers they know nothing about. They choose 5 matchmaker jobs to put in their [online] favorites locker for further research. They must then look up, through the self-guided search, five more careers that they would also like to further research. They then rank these 1 thru 10 and do extensive research on the top 5. Through the research, the students must choose one of the top 5 that they would like to do a presentation on for the class. The students must make a PowerPoint presentation on the career using the information form F4K and present the career. They must also dress up in business attire or a costume that fits the career.” Leslie Farris Career Explorations Teacher Jacobs Fork Middle School

F4K AT WORK

		An example of how our career coaches' experience and different perspectives are invaluable in helping our students achieve success. Lobbyist

VOTE FOR F4K!

			Rezoom.com is awarding more than $200,000 to nonprofit organizations all over the county through its "A Better World" program based on number of votes received for each organization. From now through March 31, you can vote once per day per email address in the regional round, with the winners receiving $5,000 and the chance for $100,000 in the national round. We would love to have your votes for F4K--just click here and select Futures For Kids from the list. Thanks for all of your support!

> A Note from our Team
> Say What?
> F4K At Work
> Vote for F4K!

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