BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — A new program coming to public schools will help students know more about themselves, what they enjoy and how that can help shape their future.
During a workshop retreat earlier this month, Bradford Assistant Superintendent Karen Clarke introduced school board members to Xello, the state’s official K-12 career planning and work-based learning coordination provider.
Middle school students are required to take a class that includes career planning, and Bradford County has been providing that through social studies with a computer-based program. Xello will be fully rolled out to schools for all students in the fall.
According to the Florida Department of Education, “Xello empowers every student to design a personalized plan for the future by providing a high-quality career development experience that’s modern and visually appealing, interactive, and age-appropriate.”
According to Xello, their model connects self-knowledge to future success. That includes defining interests, personality and learning styles, skills, preferences and aspirations so students explore the opportunities that are right for them.
Through the content, they learn about career possibilities and the educational pathways that get them there. They explore careers, schools and major courses of study. These include college, vocational and military options. They learn how to fund post-secondary education. They also learn about employers, including local companies where they can get on-the-job experience.
The goal is for students to develop a plan with steps they can work toward. The further they go the more time they will spend learning about themselves and reassessing their plans when necessary.
Along the way, they develop a storyboard to collect their favorite photos, videos, links and files, both to express themselves and visually capture their goals.
Clarke said when they have a better look at the program, they will know more about how to incorporate it in each grade level. School board members were happy with what they heard. Board Member Lynn Melvin said she would like to see some tracking of student interests beginning in middle school so electives appealing to those interests are offered.
“So many kids graduate, and they don’t know what they want to do. The other thing is they really don’t know what they’re good at,” she said. “I think this would definitely give them that advantage.”
