Three upcoming high school freshmen students visited the Knoxville Chamber as part of Knox County Schools “Schooled for Success” program.
This program’s purpose is to introduce entering HS freshman to career opportunities. The program is conducted each year after school gets out at various local businesses.
The student’s that participated in the Chamber's events were Abby Burroughs, Carter Middle School; Preston Johnson, Holston Middle School; and Marc Cooper, Powell Middle School.
The student’s spent two work days at the Chamber offices, during which time they had a tour of the building, interviewed staff members in various departments, conducted an internet scavenger hunt of the Chamber website and completed a project. The project was to create a brochure that can be used by the school counselors to help students understand what the chamber does and why it is important to the region.
The Schooled for Success program is looking for employers in the Innovation Valley to host students for a two-day internship this summer.
Eighth grade students would spend two days with the employer on May 28 and 29, learning more about the host company and what skills it takes to succeed in the specific careers of each employer.
The goal of the program is to jump start incoming high school students with the knowledge of how to position themselves to get the job that they want.
Click here to learn more about the program and download an application to be a host employer.
The television program "Good Morning America" today highlighted a documentary called "2 Million Minutes" that looks at how high school students in the United States, China and India allocate time during their four high-school years. The title refers to that period of time.
Ultimately, the film showed that students in India and China were more prepared for careers in math, science and engineering and that more emphasis in their lives was placed on academic excellence. In America, in contrast, Bob Crompton, the filmmaker, notes that emphasis is placed on sports and other skills.
"What I saw in the K-12 schools absolutely shocked me in both India and China. … I became very concerned about the competitiveness of my own daughters' education," Compton said on "Good Morning America." "Between the cultures, students allocate their time quite differently. The difference is the parental expectations of the students, the community's expectations."
The Knoxville News Sentinel this weekend had a guest column from Athanasios Bayiates, president of the Knox County Education Association, who discussed hiring and retaining effective teachers.
He opined that individual educators are essential to student success and said that retaining high-quality teachers will help bridge the learning gap in struggling students and schools.
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