CAREERS IMPACT 7th GRADE STUDENTS
Above, 7th-grade IMPACT students engage in EMT training. Throughout quarter one, students learned about a variety of careers from over 20 different professionals.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
This past quarter at LOLMS, IMPACT students in the seventh grade had the opportunity to learn directly from a variety of professionals. Each class, students took a deep dive into a career through the eyes of a local expert. Learn about their experience below from teachers Andy Raucci, Jackie Grady, and their students.
Q: Please describe your assignment/project and your objectives.
A: (Andy Raucci, Instructional Technology Specialist)
IMPACT stands for Investigating Multiple Professions in Arts, Culinary, and Technology. As a new member of the IMPACT team this year, I wanted to bring the outside world into the classroom in a different way. After brainstorming, I began to piece together how many different types of professions we not only had in our immediate community at school but through parents of students and local contacts as well. I arranged for speakers to come to every class to give an overview of what they do, why they chose their profession, the education they needed, and how their profession impacts our communities and society as a whole.
All of the presenters were incredibly well-prepared and excited to share their experiences. Conversations in class were meaningful and students had an endless number of insightful questions. To allow students to make connections after these presentations, I assigned reflections to allow students to dig deeper into what they learned. Feel free to check out those questions below as well as student feedback on the entire experience.
Q: What specific technology are you integrating and what has it allowed students to do?
A: (Andy Raucci, Instructional Technology Specialist)
So much technology was woven into this experience! Steve Spooner, a United Airlines pilot, showed us the apps he uses to track flights, address weather concerns, and plan for emergencies. Jon Goss and Bill Derry, tech ed teachers at LOLHS, created coding and hands-on woodshop experience with our CNC machine. Our Police and EMT representatives showed us their vehicles and all the technology they use to protect and save lives. Mr. Fisler, our LOLHS Physics teacher, shared his coding background and how he learned to develop some of the first medical imaging machines. Finally, Frank DiNardi brought in his photography equipment and several drones. He explained how he plans for a project and which equipment was most appropriate.
All of this exposure has given students a much broader sense of how specific technologies can help solve simple and complicated problems. On the student side, Google Classroom was utilized when reflections were assigned.
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards were incorporated including several strands from Global Collaborator, Creative Communicator, and Digital Citizen.
Career Chat Highlights
Local expert Frank DiNardi shares his passion for showcasing new drones and their applications to different professions and everyday life.
Students paired up to collaborate with Mr. Goss’ Woodshop class to complete a custom-made tic-tac-toe board.
Q: Can you provide any feedback or reflection from students or other participants?
“My favorite part of Impact was when we did activities related to the presenters’ jobs instead of writing about their jobs. Examples were when we got to go in the ambulance and fly the drones.”
“I liked learning about the backgrounds of all of the jobs and how there are a lot more things you have to know than what’s just on the surface.”
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I liked how we were included in almost all of the presentations and weren’t just listening- lots of activities and interesting things they brought in for us to see.
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“The drones were definitely my favorite because we were able to see them fly. ”
