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Why PA eMentoring?
Schools are the doorways through which our youths will take advantage of the economic opportunities of tomorrow. Tomorrow's jobs dictate that all students be prepared with strong academic skills and a detailed career focus that helps guide them through increasingly complex post secondary career paths.
And yet, schools are struggling to make classroom learning relevant to the kids they serve. There are dangerously few resources in place in our schools that provide a window of reality needed to show students what is needed to achieve college and career success.
Instead, schools continue to lean on the "College for All" mentality that has been growing in prevalence for the last several decades. This despite horrible educational outcomes that we have today characterize by the following adjectives:
Failing: 94% of ninth graders say that their post secondary goal is to earn a 4-year college degree - only 28% will earn one ever
Misguided: Only 25% of careers require a 4-year degree
Uninspired: Of those that enroll in college, more than half never earn a degree
Wasteful: Over 50% or college graduates get jobs they could have had with a HS degree
Unproductive: Over 65% of employers report dissatisfaction with the preparation levels of HS graduates
Ongoing: Only 25% of adults feel they are a good fit with their career
Fortunately, Pennsylvania has recognized the importance of relevance within the classroom and has instituted the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Career Education and Work. These standards mandate that career education occur within all schools at various grade levels with all students.
In other words, the voice that has been missing from the classrooms for decades - namely the employers voice - is now mandated by Commonwealth Law. The trick is finding a vehicle for that voice and a means for connecting it to a student.
One-on-One mentoring is one solution that has shown to have dramatic impact on young persons. Career education is another.
Both, however, are often difficult to accomplish, especially in a classroom setting.
PA eMentoring combines the best of one-on-one mentoring and career education - using the Internet to deliver a mentor and a comprehensive career education curriculum to the student's desktop computer.
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