This past summer we sent a group of elementary & JH teachers to Purdue University to continue the work of Micro Electronic Unit Development. Teachers started off learning the basics of circuitry and the function of transistors, which leads to internship opportunities at Reliable MicroSystems for our students.

(Mark your calendars for a Micro Electronics Showcase event on February 26th)

We are going to expand our Sweatshirt project.. not just ask for College Sweatshirts. We're also going to be asking businesses to donate sweatshirts/hoodies with their logos on them...to incorporate the CAREER possibilities side also!

We have 225 3rd graders this year, and our goal is to give each one of them a sweatshirt for Christmas. In the previous years, we have collected COLLEGE sweatshirts. However, being that we are getting our students COLLEGE and CAREER Ready, we are inviting business to donate a sweatshirt with their name and/or logo on it. We are looking forward to engaging in conversations about different COLLEGES and CAREERS around Washington, and even across the country!

If you would like to help with this project, donations are welcome as are sweatshirts. If you plan to donate a sweatshirt (crewneck or hoodie), please contact Jordan Bennington JBennington@wcs.k12.in.us first for sizes.

Donations are due November 1st

We have been learning about our first destination as a Kids at Hope School. Our first destination is Career and Education. When talking about our future, it is important that we have intentional conversations about our future options. We have enjoyed drawing our dream careers! When having conversations about this, some of our key questions were:

• What is your dream job?

• What would be some tools that you might need for your dream job?

• What does it mean to have a career?

• Do you want to have a job that takes a long time to go through schooling?

• What are the interests that you have?

Taught in every 3rd and 4th grade classroom at Washington Intermediate on career readiness for the month of August. Each student took an assessment to determine which career cluster would be a great fit for them. After they found their cluster they were able to look at different careers they might be interested in. Some careers required college while many did not. Some students knew exactly what they already wanted to be and felt reassured when they got that career cluster. Other students seemed to enjoy learning about different careers and choices they could have later down the road. Students were encouraged to take home and share their results with their families. These were great classroom conversations that lead into our Kids at Hope College and Career destination!

Schools across the district are exploring career options and learning from our community. Students were able to choose from 9 different speakers based on their interests.

Thank you to Personal Fitness Trainer Susan Ramsey, Human Resources Executive Cody Lee, Probation Officers Emilee Miller & Shelby Stanley, Scoop's owner Julie Bassler, Engineer Julie Bartlett, Los Amigos owner Nettie Manjujano, Nurse Melissa Potts, Dillon Rhoads & Matt Wagler from Bunkum Valley Roofing, Donnie Gress & Brandon Auberry from Don Gress Construction.

We continue to use homeroom time each day for students to get on the Careers based activities on the Oculus. Some of the clusters available are: Architecture and Construction, Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics, and Manufacturing. Some of the jobs in these clusters include: Demolition an overpass, Service a commercial airplane, and Assemble component EV battery.

Crossroad Connections presentation with the freshman and sophomores. This involved three young Hoosiers as they explore what Indiana has to offer them. From education and health care to manufacturing and agriculture, discover the diverse range of career paths available in the Crossroads of America. Afterwards several students were able to take a quick tour of their RV.

A PLTW program is a series of modules, units, or courses available for elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively. Our comprehensive programs also include in-depth professional development for teachers, live classroom support, and more. PLTW offers five programs: PLTW Launch, designed for grades PreK-5; PLTW Gateway, designed for grades 6-8; and PLTW Computer Science, PLTW Engineering, and PLTW Biomedical Science, each designed for grades 9-12.

Because of the strong partnership that Washington Community Schools has with this rigorous and engaging program, we have been asked by PLTW to host a Showcase Day for other schools interested in learning more about PLTW. Because of our amazing community partnerships with you, we felt like you should get to come see the things our students are doing and learning.

Our proposal for the 2024-2025 K-12 Robotics Competition Grant has been selected as one of the awardees. There were over 145 grant proposals submitted for this competitive funding opportunity. The review team was impressed by our plan to design, construct, program, and operate robots in competitions sponsored by nonprofit organizations with the goal of increasing Indiana student interest in STEM.

If you are interested in partnering with us in any way, please reach out to our College & Career Academy Director, Matt Riney: MRiney@wcs.k12.in.us

Email: speterson@wcs.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.washingtoncommunityschools.org/1/Content2/college-and-career-academy
Location: 608 East Walnut Street, Washington, IN, USA
Phone: (812) 254-3860
Twitter: @washhs