Chris & Megan Travel to the Frozen Tundra
Chris and Megan are at Careers Conference 2008 in Madison Wisconsin. This is a web log of their travels, which will be updated throughout the trip.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
We fly to Chicago and transfer planes to get to Madison. Compared to last year, this was a very un-eventful trip. There was a little bit of snow on Chicago and in Madison, but no flight delays.
Actually, we were delayed a little bit getting out of Chicago. We were told that they were going to start the plane externally since the internal starter was not working. The off-duty pilot who was sitting next to me did not seem concerned about the announcement, so I figured we were still safe. I reasoned that since it was a small plane, we could all get out and push start it like I used to do with my old van. Eventually they got it started, and we took off to the frozen tundra in Wisconsin.
We encountered some fluffy clouds on our trip.
We check in to the Madison Concourse Hotel and then head out to look for food.
Here is the view out of my hotel room. The hotel is in downtown Madison. Notice the frozen Lake Mendota in the background. On the way to the hotel we saw ice skaters and fishermen on the lake. That's not a sight we see in Raleigh very often, if ever!
We take a chilly walk down State Street, which has lots of little shops, coffee houses, and restaurants. It's an eclectic collection of shops for a college town. We end up eating at the hotel.
Monday, January 28, 2008
We check in to the conference.
Here's Chris trying to figure out which sessions to go to.
Chris attends Workshop#8, "Successful Strategies for implementing Career Clusters Locally"
Educators from South Carolina discussed what they are doing with Career Clusters. It's a lot like we have been doing for years with our Career Pathways, Business Alliances and our CPETs (Career Pathway Employer Teams). I found out that when they say Business Alliance they are talking about something like our CPET program, and not our Business Alliance program.
In North Carolina we are changing from our current 11 Career Pathways to the national 16 Career Clusters. This is effective with our current seventh graders. That means that we will have a few confusing years with some grades looking at pathways and other looking at clusters. I've already updated my NC Career Outlook website to allow looking at careers by either pathway or cluster.
To make it more confusing, Career Clusters has taken on a new meaning. It's basically a subset of the Career Clusters.
One advantage that South Carolina has is that career education has been legislated by their state government at the request of their business community. This means a total buy-in across the state. The other key difference is that in SC all of the school counselors have taken the Career Development Facilitator course that we require of all of our Career Development Coordinators (CDC). This means that all of their counselors are focused on career education, not just focused on getting kids across the stage at graduation.
In South Carolina all kids declare a major (what we will be calling career pathway, but different from our current career pathways) by grade 10. I always say that it's cheaper to change your major in high school than it is in college, so I am pleased to see this policy.
I was surprised to find that dual enrollment in most states is not free. In North Carolina, high school students can take community college courses for free, except for the cost of textbooks. In most states the student or the high school pay the tuition costs. This is a great deal that we need to utilize more in NC. Free college courses should be a no-brainer decision for our parents who are scrimping and saving so their kids can go to college.
South Carolina uses the term Extended Learning to describe our Work-Based Learning program. This includes job shadowing, internships, apprenticeships and similar experiences.
I got lots of handouts from this four-hour presentation that I will have to sift through and appropriate some of it to enhance our School-to-Career program.
Here is the North Carolina contingent just before we went out to eat dinner. It's nice to hang around with others who know what y'all means.
I'm listening to the presidential address on TV while I'm typing this. I don't hear him talking about career education or other school-to-career programs.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The wireless Internet in my room stopped working from about 9PM until about 8AM.
8:30 AM - Welcoming Session - The keynote speaker is presenting "Breaking the Mold: Reshaping Career Development." He's from Canada, which always seems like a long way away, but since we are right next door to Canada, I guess he just had to jump across the border.
10:15 session - Parents as Partners in Career Planning
The presenter works in a career center at a community college.
Parents want their children to be happy, healthy, safe, successful, and self-supporting.
Helicopter parents - parents hover overhead whether the child needs it or not.
Lots of discussion about how parents are meddling into their kids business, even going to job interviews.
I was hoping for more about educating parents about the reality of the world of work. This presentation says that parents know it all and are not letting their kids make decisions for themselves. How do we reach these parents and educate them about the current and future occupations.
If the parents want to be involved, and the kids want their parents involved, then there should be no problem involving the parents as long as the parents are willing to learn. We need to look at creating some evening programs to invite parents and students to in order to learn about careers and the current career process.
Planning for the future is an ongoing process.
- Know yourself
- Explore your options
- Make plans and take action.
A career is what we do to make a life, not just make a living.
Megan and Chris at the conference
11:30 lunch
1:30 session - "Skills for the 21st Century"
Most of this session was the same list of skills that the big-name educators are talking about. I want to hear about what skills the actual employers are saying they want in their new recruits.
Chris presents at 3:15 PM. "Using Current Career Data to Help Students Prepare for Careers that Will Be in Demand When They Graduate"
20 minutes prior to the start of my presentation, I already had a full room with some standing in the back. There were 40 chairs and about 70 people in the room so I started my presentation about 10 minutes early. I even turned the podium on its side and created a bench for two of my fans. The presentation went well. Lots of great questions throughout the presentation, and lots of folks stayed behind to talk about my presentation.
My PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from our School-to-Career Resources web page.
A big storm is expected tonight. Here is an excerpt from the weather report:
I think we'll stay in the hotel tonight!
Frost forming on the hotel window.
A chilly view from the ninth floor
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The wind chill got down to -50F last night. The forecast for today is a high temperature of 5F with a wind chill of -20F. The weatherman said that you could throw a bucket of water into the air and it would be all frozen by the time it hit the ground. I'll take their word for it!
Megan accepting her prize for being chosen as a "Showcase Presentation."
The keynote address this morning is "The Brazen Careerist." We're hoping for a better keynote message than we had yesterday.
I thought she was very thought provoking, but others really did not like her presentation.
Megan presented at 9:45 AM. "Capitalizing on Career-Focused Volunteerism: How to Design, Recruit & Sustain Business and Education Partnerships (Showcase Program)"
Megan about to begin her presentation
Megan had a good-sized audience in a funny-shaped room. Lots of applause at the end.
Megan making a point.
I will be updating this web page over the next few days, so check back often. Many of the sessions I took notes on paper, so I will have to transcribe them here later.
11:30 session - "How to Expand Your High School Career Development Program"
Presented by a high school with a really good career academy. Actually the entire school was a big career academy. Each student declared a major, which is one of the 16 Career Clusters.
12:15 soup and salad for lunch at the hotel restaurant. There is no way we are going outside until we absolutely have to.
12:45 session - "Building Community Connection to Ensure Youth Success in College and Career"
"New Ways to Work" program
We go to the airport at 2PM in the hotel van. It is very cold outside.
A very cold aviation employee at the Madison airport.
Sunset as we flew towards Chicago.
A snow-covered Chicago.
O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
Other planes at O'Hare.
Plane taking off at O'Hare.
The inside of our plane, and the back of Megan's head.
When we got to Chicago, Megan went on to Raleigh, Chris is staying in Chicago (actually Princeton) with his sister, so the blog will continue through the end of the week.
Megan's flight was cancelled, but she got on a later flight. At least I think she did. I just left her standing next to the Mrs. Fields cookie store in the airport!
9 PM - I'm in Princeton at my sister's house. She has wireless Internet in the house, so I'm updating this blog. I cannot get cell phone service in her house.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
I job shadow my brother-in-law at Martin Engineering. They help companies move bulk materials. Conveyor belts are their big product. It's a nice company with nice people working there, but it's out in the middle of nowhere.
It snows all day, but life goes on. They donšt shut down just because of snow.
Friday, February 1, 2008
I hang out with my sister today. We went to a truck stop for lunch.
My sister's backyard covered in snow. There are deer tracks in the snow.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
A view out the front door of the house.
Ronald Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon, Illinois
Statue of Ronald Reagan.
The great arch of Dixon, the town where Ronald Reagan grew up.
A little bit of snow on the road.
More snow in the trees.
A pile of snow in front of a gas station.
My sister's house with a little snow in the driveway.
We're driving to Chicago soon to get me back to the airport, so I can get back to the South.
I get my bags checked and get through security without standing in line.
I ate some Orange Chicken from the Chinese food place. My sister has a lot of different kinds of chickens on her farm, but I don't know if she has any Orange Chickens. They were very tasty. Then I find Mrs. Fields and get some of her cookies. She's such a nice lady, and boy can she make some cookies.
It's an hour before the plane takes off, and there are seven passengers on standby. They are also hoping to entice someone to pay an extra $90 to move to first class.
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