Career Exploration means preparing for the workforce. And most jobs do require an interview.

So after some practice and advice ahead of time, all the 9th graders at Rock Ridge did an interview this week with an adult from the community.

The goal is to start preparing them for what they’ll need to do in the future. CeCe Gentlini said it was good to know what to do when you have an actual interview.

Another student, Kennedy Sandnas, told us it wasn’t that easy talking about her strengths. “Just because you’re not used to hyping yourself up like that,” she said.

And asked about weaknesses can be tricky too. “I tell them to try and spin it in a way that you plan to grow and fix it,” shared Susan Ellefson, their Social Studies teacher.

A third student, Kloey Rahkola, said it was good to get ready for the real world.

And afterwards, they’ll hear about things that went well, and maybe some things to focus on in the future.

Kyle Hammer, the Business Education teacher, said, “They’ll get the packets the interviewers were using, and they’ll get feedback. Then they’ll reflect on how things went, and their grade is based on that.”

“We are so lucky at Rock Ridge to have the support of people who want to come and help us with projects like this,” shared Willie Spelts, the Director of School to Work Engagement.

They’ve also added a job shadow portion of their career exploration unit, and that has lead to some students being offered jobs!