By Laeni Pelzer

For about half of November and all of December the sophomores in Maria Oltmans’ english class spent their time in a career unit. Besides the fact that she had to put this in her curriculum for the year, Oltmans thinks that it is a beneficial and important unit. She says that she still uses things she learned from this unit in high school.  Oltmans says, “If there is one unit that my students can take out into the real world, it is definitely this one.”

Oltmans had every student create a journal that would be filled out throughout the unit. This consisted of positive characteristics they portrayed, work history, volunteer history, a reference list and activities.

They were asked to each select three careers.  Then they researched all of them and chose one to write about and be interviewed by a professional in that field. Before the interview the students learned how to write a cover letter and a resume correctly. They learned the intent of a cover letter and resume is to result in an interview.  Then they were instructed to write out five questions to ask during the interview and had to type out a list of references.

Sophomore Colby Clarken said, “The cover letter and resumes are way more important than people think.” The interviews took place Dec. 11-13. Clarken and sophomore Brendan Holmes said their interview was their favorite part. There were a total of 35 different interviewers. The students wrote interviews reflection papers were written, follow up letters, and handwritten thank you cards. When asked what their thoughts were on the career unit sophomore Darien Mills said, “I liked it because it was very interesting and I learned a lot.”  Holmes said, “It helped me better understand what the future will be like.”