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Career readiness can sound like a big, abstract goal — something that belongs in a strategic plan, a district initiative or a career fair once a year.

But helping students connect school to life after graduation can happen in practical, everyday ways.

In this summer highlight episode, Ashley Shaw looks back at five powerful moments from the first two seasons of the Making Schools Work podcast. These clips offer practical ways educators can help students understand why school matters, what skills they are building and how those skills connect to college, careers, military service, technical training and life beyond graduation.

You’ll hear from Mark Perna, Nicole Cobb, Marty Sugerik, leaders from Richland High School and the team from PENCIL in Nashville as they share strategies schools and teachers can use right away.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

•  Reframe school as a way for students to build options, not just earn grades 
•  Help students recognize the career skills inside everyday classroom tasks 
•  Ask students to investigate how academic skills show up in real careers 
•  Create concrete next-step plans for students before they graduate 
•  Build community partnerships around real student and school needs 

Featured clips from:

• The GPA Myth: Reframing Education as a Solution, Not a Problem
  •  Featuring Mark Perna
• The Human Side of Career Readiness With Nicole Cobb
  •  Featuring Dr. Nicole Cobb
• Designing Meaningful Projects: Making Project-Based Learning Work in the Classroom
  •  Featuring Marty Sugerik
• Pacesetter Spotlight: Richland High School’s AP Program and Career Connectedness
  •  Featuring leaders from Richland High School
• Featured Speaker Spotlight: Creating Community Programs With PENCIL
  •  Featuring Elena Kate and Bob Kucher

Listen for these practical takeaways:

Career readiness does not have to live outside the regular school day. It can start with a single sentence that explains why students are practicing a skill. It can become stronger when students research how that skill appears in careers they care about. It can become more concrete when schools help students identify possible next steps, financial plans and real people they can talk to before committing to a path.

And it becomes much more powerful when schools build partnerships that are connected to what students actually need to experience, practice and understand.

Subscribe and follow

Subscribe to the Making Schools Work podcast wherever you listen, and follow along this summer as we revisit some of the most practical ideas from our first two seasons.

The Southern Regional Education Board is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works with states and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. 

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