By MANDY WHITE
High school seniors will get something besides their diploma this year
upon graduation: a special passport area high schools hope will help
take them to places they'd only dreamed of going.
It won't take the new adults to a foreign country, but a career passport
is
calculated to help them in a place just as foreign - the working world.
And just what is a career passport? Partly written by students
themselves, it's basically a scrapbook of accomplishments. The way
passports are handled varies with each school, but most contain a
diploma, letter of introduction from the school, resume, career
narrative, transcript, verification of employability and a school profile.
Starting with this year's seniors, Ohio law requires that each student
has his or her own passport by graduation.
Sound complex? Lisa Brown, Edgewood Senior High School' career
education specialist, says that the objective of career passports, at least,
is simple.
"We want students to think about what they'd like to do in life. We
want
them to know their strengths."
The resume, career narratives (career goals, next step after high
school), and verification of employability skills (must identify with two
basic employment skills in which they feel proficient ) are all written
by
students who are allowed to add achievements they feel have helped
shape their worldview.
Research for these projects starts with programs from kindergarten
onward, Brown says, and continues on in the eighth grade (or seventh
in some school districts) with the Individual Career Planning (ICP)
program.
Pymatuning Valley High School has started a required life planning
course which gives students a chance to work on their career passports.
Edgewood is tentatively considering one. Students usually get time to
work on it during an English or a social studies course, which are both
required.
Aren't resumes alone enough for employers?
"Employability skills are much more complex than they were 20 years
ago," says Brown. "Employers are looking at the whole person and
the
career passport speaks more accurately for the student."
Employability skills, simply speaking, are the skills that make you
valuable to your employer, whatever your job might be. And in a world
where the average adult changes careers at least half a dozen times in
his lifetime, employability, as much as technical skill, makes a
difference
That's why knowing employability strengths and weaknesses can help a
lot when searching for the right job Jimmy Howell, a junior at ESHS,
says.
"I think (career passports) are great for organizing our talents and
focusing on what we want to do."
Brenda Leukhardt, also a junior at Edgewood, disagreed.
"I think making them a requirement for graduation is pretty ridiculous.
Most kids are not going to take it seriously anyway."
The question is, are employers and colleges going to take it seriously?
Brown says that overall, businesses have been very supportive.
"I've been told by businesses that this portfolio is becoming more
important than a resume," she said.
An important goal of career passports is identifying an area of interest
and finding a career that matches that interest. In Edgewood, tests to
match student and career are given, and students also job shadow the
career they are interested in, because as Brown says, "hours of research
don't equal one day of actual experience."
The bottom line is that students are in charge, not only of what's in
their passport, but what's in their future.
Compiled by James M. Waid
Seasons
raining, thundering.
lightening soon again.
windy, cold,
winter is old.
summer fun again,
spring begin again.
fall trips away,
another winter's day.
for seasons come and go,
why not enjoy each day?
for they will come again, and again,
and again,
each and every day.
Holly Holmes
Dream World
I live in a dream world all of my own
I am the heroine
I am the queen
My life is theirs
I act as their heart
I am the fairest of them all.
Then reality like a serrated knife
Cuts me painfully away
To allow itself to come in.
I am timid
I am ugly
I am unknown.
I fling the reality to the rabid people below
To enter once more my
Perfect Land.
Rebecca Chapin
untitled
As the pain lies in my heart, I cry
My thoughts are all washed away
Blinded by the love that I once had
Emptiness takes over my body
Nothing is here for me
Too many things have changed
For me to go back
Drowned in my own pain and anger
My heart feels nothing but hurt
Hurt that never goes away
Here I forget
When all my happiness goes away
How can I explain
These feelings that I have
Lea Tuttle
Subtle Revelation
The sweet, honey-suckle smell of the meadow entices me.
I release my shyness and go forth.
A woman of spectacular beauty is seated
Beneath a swollen oak tree.
As a new, intense passion for her is clinging to my soul,
I seek to satisfy this burning desire.
I stagger forward in an attempt to follow her,
As she is still motionless under an umbrella of oak and green.
Two steps.
Her face grows wearisome and furrowed.
Twenty steps.
Patches of gray abound upon her brittle, aged head,
But my craving of her affection supersedes all other convictions.
I notice a gentle, subtle tug on my coat-sleeve.
I turn to discover love has followed my shadow down this
Harsh, broken trail.
A step backwards.
I saunter along with love clinging compassionately at my side,
Through the sweet meadow.
Jeremy Purola
A Close of Lids
The smile,
And a fit of laughter left long unaddressed.
A hindrance that filtered down from heaven,
But an angel sits here half-undressed.
A close of lids,
And the secret speech forever couldn't anticipate.
A solitary wish that hell's gates hath wrought.
- Voyeurs perch upon the gabletops to wait -
A smile,
The crimes are not an institution born of falter.
And when the sins are long committed,
Angels seek absolution at your alter.
The flight of wings,
As only condemnation knows how to spread.
But what matter is damnation to you,
When in a lifetime you're already dead?
James M. Waid
You can send your poetry for publication in "A Weakness For Symbols"
by either writing me at James M. Waid; 6688 St. Rte. 45; Orwell,
44076 or emailing me at tinman360hotmail.com
or elia-
kazanhotmail.com.
A Mandy White column
There's an old joke about the fat man who says to his friend,
"I'm not
overweight, I'm just big-boned." And the friend says, "Well, that's
sure
a big bone hanging over your belt-buckle."
As I contemplate what's hanging over my own beltbuckle, I'm afraid I
can't even make that excuse. But I do know exactly where to place the
blame (would I be a child of the 90s if I didn't?). It's not my own fault
of course. The fact that arm-wrestling is about as far I go on the
exercise routine has nothing to do with it.
Like many of my fellow Americans, I'm a burger basher. Blame it on
the fast food, I say.
But unlike some, I have my standards. For instance I don't blame
seductive burger commercials, as if we are pulled away from our fat-
free yogurt and spinach salads to the evil Golden Arches by media
suggestion alone. They also have some great milk commercials, but I
don't see grocery stores installing drive-thru windows.
The truth is, fast food tastes good and we like it. Before fast food
restaurants people ate headcheese. Do you know how bad for you
headcheese is? Other cultures ate termites, which are also high in fat.
Not to mention yucky.
Now we have more delicious ways of clogging our arteries. Big Macs
and fries, supersized. Ice cream sundaes, fajitas and hot apple pies.
(Sounds like a promising Mickey D jingle).
The only real difference is now we know enough to know how bad it is
for us. While we're eating we're mentally counting calories. Ergo, we
have a problem. I have a friend who eats McDonalds all the time yet
exercises little. How does he stay skinny? Positive thinking, well
actually, no thinking at all.
"I figure I'm getting three or four vegetables a day (pickles, tomato,
lettuce and potato) plus fruit (apple pie). That's more than a lot of
people get, right? I just try not to dwell on it too much," he says
modestly. "Oh, and I drink a lot of water."
Maybe he has something there. I don't think we should worry about the
fat content so much. Forget guilt. What's a little fat compared with the
great advantages the fast-food business brings us?
Aren't the toys alone worth it? Where else but a Taco Bell would I have
gotten a drinking straw with a huge rotating eyeball in it? These are
going to be very valuable some day. Think Beanie Babies. The great
thing is, all the fast food stores compete to make the coolest toys. They
know that's why we really come. I have yet another friend (allegedly old
enough to be an adult) who loves Dairy Queen. Not only does she buy
the Dairy Queen treatmeals for the toy, but she gives all the doubles to
her grandmother, who also has a collection.
A fact a lot of people overlook is that McDonalds, Burger King, Subway
and Taco Bell support a whole teen economy. If fast food lost
popularity, we'd be out of a job. If we were out of a job, what would
happen to poor Tommy Hilfigur, Calvin Klein and Spice Girls cd's.
Who would buy them? (Certainly not sane individuals.)
And we don't want to overlook the seniors. I know the McDonalds I
frequent could probably feed India for a year from the money seniors
spend on coffee alone. It's the "in" place for retirees to go
and chat. Sort
of like a happening coffeehouse except there's no poetry readings.
The most important reason to eat fast food is that it promotes world
peace. Really. Most wars are caused by ignorance and fear of others'
culture. Well, at the rate we're going, we'll have our culture (a.k.a.
Golden Arches) prominently featured in every city of the world. This
will make us even more popular than we are right now. Nothing like
gaudy yellow M's, degenerate capitalistic opportunism and greasy fries
to warm the cockles of our global brothers and sister's heart.
White may write about burgers, but her specialty is lunchmeat. No
bologna.
Erin Kindler, an Edgewood sophomore, is a good sport, well,
at least
she likes sports, as in golf and tennis. Erin is also in Soundsations and
on the Student Council.
Erin is pretty into Edgewood- she thinks, and we quote, "Mr. Shlick
is
the greatest teacher ever!!!" We wonder she isn't more thankful to
her
chemistry teacher Mr. Prugar for not pressing charges.
Recently, in a huge explosion of flame, Erin set nearly set fire to the
chem lab. Bystanders claim Erin's reaction was "Mommy!" but Erin
says she didn't even blink.
She wishes to say hello to Nathan, Chris and Aaron-"How 'bout some
chicken wing pizza?" Uh yeah, Erin, whatever you say.
Relax. We've got you're activities set up for the next few weeks. (You
can take a break to buy the Teen/Currents staff Christmas presents.)
First off, build a gingerbread house. Yep.
It's a contest hosted by the Ashtabula Arts Center and is open to folks
18 and up, 13 to 17, 8 to 12 and gingerbread design other than a house,
ages 8 and up.
As in life, this contest has its rules. Gingerbread must be mounted on a
hard, unbending surface. (Not your principal.) Main structure to be
made of gingerbread only. (There goes the cement option.) Arts center
isn't responsible for damaged entries (copout) and no professional
entries. OK kids, since career passports are the main story on this page,
how many of you are considering a career in gingerbread houses?
First place is a free art class at the arts center.
Entries accepted Dec. 12 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Dec. 13 from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Entry fee is $4 per house. They will be on display Dec. 15-22
and may be picked up Dec. 23. (Don't try to palm it off on Santa with a
glass of milk the following night.)
While we hate labels, make sure one is attached with name, address,
phone number, category entered and blah, blah, blah.
To fill the rest of your time and burn off that turkey and stuffing, check
out Plymouth R.O.C.K. Saturday at the Ashtabula Party Center, West
Avenue and Route 20.
There's an open jam at 3, followed by music from 6 to midnight.
Bands include Pure, Bula's Frail, S.O.A., Black Hand, Ex-Apathy,
Mosquito Bitten umm questionable parentage, F.O.C. and Elegy.
Cost is $4 at the door or bring a toy to benefit Toys for Tots and get in
for $3.