This summer, I had the opportunity to complete an externship with the Cascade Chamber of Commerce. My project focused on learning more about our local workforce and finding ways to better connect students with career opportunities that exist right here in our community.

My main task was to research four major career sectors in the Cascade and Valley County area: Tourism & Hospitality, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Outdoor Industry & Recreation, and Forestry, Infrastructure & Skilled Trades. I reached out to local employers to learn about the jobs they offer, skills they look for in employees, education or certifications that are helpful, and some of the challenges they face when hiring. I also asked employers about ways our schools could better prepare students for the workforce.

The main goal of my project was to take the information I gathered and turn it into career pathway maps that students and community members could actually use. Each pathway is designed to show that there are many different ways to build a career within an industry. Students can see examples of local careers, potential education and training requirements, and ways they can grow within a career field.

I have included the Agriculture & Natural Resources Career Pathway Map with this post as an example of what I created during my externship. Agriculture and natural resources are especially important to me as an Agricultural Education teacher, but this project helped me look beyond the careers we traditionally associate with agriculture. The pathway shows students the variety of opportunities available and helps them begin connecting their interests and education to an actual career.

One of my biggest takeaways from talking with employers was that career readiness is about much more than technical skills. Employers repeatedly talked about the importance of being dependable, communicating well, solving problems, working with others, showing initiative, and being willing to learn. Those conversations made me think about how I teach these skills in my classroom and how I can be more intentional about giving students opportunities to practice them.

This externship also reinforced that there is no single correct path after high school. Depending on the career, a student might need a four-year degree, community college, trade school, an apprenticeship, industry certifications, on-the-job training, or some combination of those options. As a teacher, I want to do a better job of showing students all of those possibilities and helping them understand that successful careers can take many different paths.

Moving forward, I want to continue building relationships between my Agricultural Education program and local employers. Industry tours, guest speakers, work-based learning, job shadows, and other partnerships can give students experiences that I cannot recreate entirely within the classroom. This externship helped me better understand what our local employers need and gave me resources that I can use to make what I teach more relevant to the opportunities available to my students.

Ultimately, this project reminded me that career preparation should not happen separately from what we teach in the classroom. The more I can connect students with real employers, real skills, and real opportunities in our community, the better prepared they will be to decide what they want their own path to look like after high school.