Do you remember your first paid childhood job? At 12 years old, $0.75 for shoe shining my father’s wingtip shoes during blustery winter weekends, held monetary motivation over straightening my bedroom for no pay. During the summertime, my siblings and I commandeered our corroded aluminum wagon into a mobile Kool-Aid stand with three flavor varieties. We dug out the largest stew pots and ladles in the kitchen cabinets, created signage for pricing, and drew up a map of key roads to traverse.
As I think back on these memories, these experiences paved the way for modern day, team collaboration between my siblings and me! Perhaps as you read this blog you are unlocking a memory of babysitting, a weekly newspaper route, or pet watching for a favorite neighborhood dog or cat up the street. For this week’s blog, we research OhioMeansJobs.com to discover loads of interactive games, videos, and activities to transform summer time job seeking exploration for educators and students PreK-12.
No one is ever too young to get a summer job! We know getting good grades and self- development with after school activities are a priority during the school year, but did you know Learning How Food Comes from the Farm to our Dinner Plate can engage students grades k-5 on career pathways through fun online games? Kids Work! offers virtual real life workplaces to connect primary students school work with a variety of job roles in hospitals, theaters, and TV stations.
Middle school students will be inspired in the A-Z Career Lab where they will meet students from the ‘Lab Squad’ and conduct interviews with real-life Aerospace Engineers to Zoologists. Grades 6-8 will undergo a ‘Career Finding Quiz,’ and videos on ‘Learning Something New,’ during this reimagining time in their development.
With the pandemic creating obstacles for in-person high school guidance counselor visits, students in grades 9-12 can take a ’16 Type Personality Test,’ ‘Look At Life After High School,’ and become a money manager with ‘Finance 101,’ through Self Exploration. Teaching Staff and Professionals can cultivate student change-makers through use of the ‘Teacher Career Toolkit,’ and ‘School District Toolkit.’
With the school year closing and a bit of trepidation on how to find new daily routines, we believe summer time is the ideal time to uncover job interests for children of all ages. Got any summer job stories, revelations, or tips? Share them with us at [email protected].
Blog post image citation: Canterbury School_020. Picture. Cleveland, OH: 1933. Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library Archives. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll50/id/1369/rec/1. (accessed June 2, 2021)
