Teams participating in Future Ready Leaders (FRL) will come together again in March to share insights from their project implementations.
The teams met in January to get feedback from peers on projects that ranged from designing a Google site that helps students align high school electives with college and career plans, to hosting guest speakers for presentations on high demand careers.
Teams participating in FRL this year are from Allegheny Valley, Brownsville Area, California Area, Cornell, Elizabeth Forward, Hampton Township, Montour, and South Allegheny school districts.
“All of the team projects revolve around future readiness,” said Aaron Altemus, Director of Professional and Student Learning, who oversees FRL along with Gina Barrett, Director of Partnerships, and Jenn Sethman, Director of Organizational Strategy and Special Projects.
“Designing the projects helps students on our teams develop skills themselves, while also working to bring classmates information relevant to their preparation for life after high school.”
To facilitate feedback at the January meeting, Consortium staffers took students through a structured Human-Centered Design protocol known as “Impress and Address.”
As part of it, the teams, which came prepared with concept posters, presented their project plans and gave peers the opportunity to ask clarifying questions. Peers then made observations about strengths and weaknesses and provided suggestions for improvement.
Following the feedback session, teams working on similar projects, like career fairs, also engaged in back-and-forth discussions to further refine their ideas.
Students and educators at the meeting also heard a presentation from Re:Build, a manufacturing collaborative that will be expanding in New Kensington. The presentation highlighted the variety of post-secondary pathways that can lead to a job in manufacturing, as well as the skills necessary to work in an evolving, team-based environment.
