Written by Mrs. Bergman, School Counselor

I like to tell our students that I have the best job in the world, but that’s not entirely true. I have the best job in the world - for me. Our students’ task, over the coming years, is to discover what the best job in the world is - for them. With that in mind, the Upper Team Transitions Class kicked off their unit on career paths.   We began the unit by creating Strengths Maps, a visual representation of students’ personal strengths in four domains - character, academic and career, interpersonal relationships, and hobbies.  This will serve as a launching point to explore which career paths might be a good fit for each student’s unique set of attributes and talents.   The students started by taking the Via Institute’s Character Strengths Survey, which asked them to rate how much they agreed with statements such as “I always look on the bright side” and “I like to think of new ways of doing things”.  Based on their answers, they were each provided with a report on their top character strengths.  Next, they completed graphic organizers listing their strengths in each domain.  Students found that there was overlap in the different domains, for example some character strengths were also interpersonal strengths, and some strengths in their hobbies were also seen to be academic and career strengths.  Finally, students used the lists they made to create their Strengths Map posters.  Once they were finished, each student had an opportunity to present their Strengths Map to the group and answer questions about what they had included.  This sparked some great discussions about students’ uncommon skills, such as blacksmithing and service dog training, and how those could translate into a career.   As we move into our exploration of career paths, the students will use their Strengths Maps to help in identifying jobs which could be a good fit for them.  Our goal is that this will get each of them one step closer to finding out what that “best job in the world” might be.   Mrs. Bergman, School Counselor