The Consortium’s Future Ready Leaders (FRL) program kicks off in early fall with goals and structure similar to last year’s, along with a few changes designed to give teams a chance to exchange ideas with peers from other districts and give students several opportunities to explore post-secondary pathways.
With district enrollment currently underway, educators in high schools interested in participating should email any of the program organizers–Jenn Sethman, Gina Barrett or Aaron Altemus.
As was the case last year when we piloted FRL, teams of students in participating districts will work alongside their adult counterparts as colleagues to identify and solve future ready challenges while growing their school’s capacity for more meaningful and impactful future readiness work. FRL also will again offer adults a series of Professional Development sessions to increase their future ready toolbox, while students will be offered sessions to increase their confidence, leadership, and employability skills.
New elements this year will be three “meetups” that bring together teams from participating high schools and several opportunities for student site visits to businesses interested in hosting them and showcasing the careers they offer, or to post-secondary schools.
“We’ve designed the two new elements into the program because each affords students a different kind of opportunity to develop future ready skills,” said Consortium Program Director Jenn Sethman, who helps organize FRL.
“Our feedback also indicates that students and adults are anxious to resume in-person opportunities to interact with professionals and peers from different backgrounds,” Sethman added. “For more than two years, the pandemic precluded these experiences.”
Sethman said plans call for three multi-district meetups. At the first, in early fall, students will exchange ideas about future readiness, learn about leadership skills, and project planning, among other things. A second session will take place during the winter at the program mid-point. The third meetup, planned for spring, will give teams a chance to showcase the projects they undertook to improve their school’s future readiness work.
