‘Unbridled Careers’ to enhance school district’s college, career readiness

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 9 p.m. — Students in the Nelson County District’s high schools and middle schools will soon be taking advantage of a new program that will allow students to explore their interests and possible career paths, and then can link them with professionals in those fields.

NCHS Counselor Robin McCoy discusses Unbridled Careers with the Nelson County Board of Education during their monthly meeting Tuesday night.

Kim Brown, the school district’s director of secondary schools, explained that “Unbridled Careers” will serve as a conduit to connect students with career fields that fall within their areas of interest.

“The goal is to bring together education and industry, to help students achieve their career goals, and to address the community’s workforce development needs,” Brown said.

Robin McCoy, a Nelson County High School guidance counselor, demonstrated the student interface and its features.

McCoy said the features “Unbridled Careers” offers are exciting because it give guidance counselors another tool to help students find career paths they might wish to explore.

Jessica Sekulski, the freshman/sophomore counselor at Thomas Nelson High School, discussed the site’s benefits to educators.

Guidance counselors can work with students to identify job shadowing opportunities, and give student chances to talk with area businesses and meet people with careers that interest them.

The district will help identify local businesses to partner with the schools to offer job shadowing opportunities for students, speak at career day events and offer real-world advice to students interested in a career field. Discussion boards are part of “Unbridled Careers,” and will give students the chance to interact online with people working in the students’ field of interest.

“I think its going to be awesome for educators to have these resources,” Sekulski said.

The district’s childcare rates will increase according to a new fee schedule approved Tuesday night by the Nelson County Board of Education. Click to enlarge.

CHILDCARE RATES. After a discussion at the school board’s working session April 2 about proposals to raise the district’s childcare program costs for employees, a new schedule of revised childcare rates was presented to the board Tuesday night.

The original proposal would have raised rates on employees for full-day daycare by $4 per day. Board member Diane Breeding said she didn’t like the idea of raising the rates for employees because she saw having the daycare rates as part of the benefit package for district employees.

Sara Wilson, Executive Director of Student Support, presented the board with daycare rates from surrounding counties that provide the same services, which included a decrease of the employee daycare rates. After Breeding questioned the proposed higher rates for employees, the rate schedule was revised, Wilson said.

“We certainly don’t want to be unfair to our employees,” she said.

Wilson told the board the childcare program will lose money this year, which makes it necessary to raise rates. The proposed rate increases will allow the program to at least break even, she said.

In other business, the board:

— approved renewing the district’s contract with Communicare; and

— approved a renewing its contract with Smith & Company for the district’s audits.

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