Career Readiness Champions
Linda Baas, Erin Bastic, and Erinn Caley are a team of Career Readiness Champions! Together, they work to integrate career readiness into the classroom over multiple lessons and across multiple pathways. Their sustained work has created effective career exploration and preparation for students. They have demonstrated innovation in career readiness and are not afraid to try new activities to benefit students.
Shasta wears so many different hats at Hope Academy. In addition to all of her official jobs, she also works closely with Dianna Jones on career exploration initiatives. She has been a strong advocate for CTE opportunities for her students. She is always open and willing to try new things in the best interest of students. She wants students to be successful and supports initiatives to make that a reality.
Dianna is always open and excited to seek out and try out new initiatives to make sure her students can explore careers. She teaches a career course for 9th graders that sets a foundation for career exploration activities through the rest of high school. Her efforts were validated and showcased by a student winning an award at the annual JMG conference for his mock interview skills.
Jill Funk is passionate about integrating career readiness within the elementary space. She has created countless lessons and activities that encourage students to not only learn about themselves and the character traits needed to be successful, but also engage in career conversations with their caretakers, family and professionals in their community. Jill's innovative mindset has inspired new resources that are not only shared within her district and Kent ISD, but in January, she presented at the Michigan Career Education Conference to share her knowledge and expertise with other professionals across the state of Michigan. Jill is focused on the future of young people and the collaborative development of educators.
Madeline is a career readiness innovator! She is passionate about career readiness and provides numerous ways for students to explore and evolve. She regularly integrates career readiness into her lessons and is willing to try new opportunities to engage student career exploration. She has also shared her experience and knowledge about career readiness at the elementary level at multiple career readiness conferences.
Ms. Mohamed is a career readiness dynamo. She demonstrates sustained activity in creating and implementing career exploration and preparation experiences for students. This year, she facilitated the first annual College/Career Fair at Townline Elementary.
Melissa demonstrates innovation in career readiness! She constantly pushes her own learning and development in order to identify ways to support student’s college and career readiness experiences. This year, she launched the first inaugural Mill Creek Middle School Career Expo, inviting over 25 employers from across the 6 career zones to engage 6th-8th grade students.
Ms. Winter recognizes the importance of career exploration and exposing students to careers in the healthcare field. She provides her students with exploration opportunities through Career Chats and Professional Pop Up Panel discussions. She has consistently reached out to find ways to invite employers into her class room to expose her students to various careers within the healthcare sector.
Cristina has a strong plan for career exploration and EDP development for all students, 9-12. She effectively utilizes their seminar time for career exploration activities that build on each other within the grade level as well as from year to year. She is open and excited to offer new opportunities.
