School Bulletin: Jumpstart on career planning

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Networking often starts in college, but juniors and seniors at Greendale High School are getting a jumpstart.

"You need to be active in your career search," Tom Hermann, the youth apprenticeship coordinator at Greendale, says. "It's not just going to drop in your lap."

Using the program Xello, Greendale officials found what industries interested students most. Throughout November, the school has been hosting career panels all based on those interests.

"Some students do not have a fireman or police man or a social worker in their immediate family or in their parents' friend group," Hermann says. "So this is their chance to actually connect and interact with a person like that."

The principal says 100 students, which is about a quarter of the school population, came to the first panel featuring professionals from the health sciences.

"Many students stayed late to get a one-on-one chance to shake their hand and ask questions," Steve Lodes, the principal at Greendale High School, says. "It really is two-fold. One is to get the information, but two is to make that connection."

Two more panels for students are coming up with speakers from the business world and the arts. The school is also considering more guest speakers for the spring and opening up future career panels to freshman and sophomore students.

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