Events
Upcoming Events
Events
Harraseeket will lead 9th and 10th graders in the College Partnership Program (CPP), to think about their dreams and how college fits into their dreams, asking questions such as: When you think about your future, what do you dream about? If you were to picture your ideal future, what would be some important elements included in the picture? To help you frame your thoughts, think about what your future looks like in terms of work life, family life, volunteering, and hobbies and Interests? What obstacles do you face?
40 9th and 10th graders assembled to engage in exercises designed to identify their personal strengths and interests. They then were asked to discuss the following in small groups:
Given our group’s combined strengths and interests, what is something the world needs from us collectively?
As a group, what is something we could create together? Note, it must involve using at least 1 strength / interest (ideally 2) from each group member’s list.
When they were ready, each small group used Play-Doh to create an answer to one of the two questions. The creations were amazing!
Shortly after Herndon High School starts, we’ll meet with the students to discuss the calendar for the year, expectations and planning. We hope some mentors will attend!
Each year seniors are eligible at the end of the year to take internships for a little over a week. We’ve spend the Spring supporting students looking, applying to and patenting externships. Our mentors helped them with activities such as career exploration, networking, resume writing, references, interviewing skills, and preparing for the workplace.
The seniors at Herndon HS who attended externships spent the morning doing oral presentations on their experiences in small groups and one on one. We heard amazing stories of inspired — and inspiring — work!
We invited a panel of employers to answer questions about internships. The panel included a recent Herndon High School graduate, a moving company executive, a financial planner, a former police officer and lawyer, an Air Force veteran, and a career coach.
Student questions included: How does an internship work? How do I go about networking to find an internship? Should I pursue an experience that reflects my career interests? How should I dress for work? How should I think about boundaries at work?
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
At the Career Fair, employers led 72 classroom workshops on 15 topics, such as: Careers at Amazon, Wegmans, the Federal Highway Administration, Inova Hospital, Deloitte and Audi of America
151 people representing 80 employers met 1 on 1 with Herndon HS 2,300 students — the whole school closed for half a day for the fair..
Students had the opportunity to find out about a wide range of careers from large and small employers, nonprofits, and governmental entities.
Our partner Arlington Independent Media mentored students at Wakefield HS and Arlington Tech as they learned reporting and podcasting skills. The capstone project was a day of interviewing Arlington voters as they voted on election day. One of the podcasts created that day by a student at Arlington Tech can be accessed here.
Haraseeket’s Alli Galbreath and Steve Parker moderated a panel as part of a program on careers and internships, with representatives of BrightSpring Health Services, Clyde’s Restaurant Group and Equus Works. The program was sponsored by Harraseeket.
Students from Langley HS, Woodbridge HS, Eleanor Roosevelt HS, McLean HS and Frederick Douglas HS attended a seminar described this way:
"Planning on applying to college soon but not sure how to answer the question, What do you want to major in? Deciding on a major can feel stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! It’s simply a matter of doing some personal exploration to figure out what motivates you in life. What are you really good at? What do you care about in the world? We’ll tackle these questions and more in this webinar and help you begin building a pathway to a future that’s fulfilling, interesting and meaningful!"
Students engaged in a different exercises, including creating and organizing post-it notes to learn about their preferences. Here is a picture of what post-it notes doing this exercise look like.
With financial advisers, we explored questions like: What’s happened to your work life? Your bank account? Do you have an emergency fund, or do you wish you had one? What about living with your parents? What’s up with your student loans, rent, mortgage, and 401k)/retirement plan? Are you budgeting? Do you have a loan from a friend or parent, or has someone asked you for a loan? How do your values and long-term goals play into all this? And how about your hopes for a fulfilling work life?
We have a finite amount of time to volunteer. Want to talk about why we do it, how to invest your volunteer hours more wisely and productively, and how to develop a deeper sense of purpose as you do it? We’ll discuss not only how service helps others, but also what it can do for your spirit and need for connection. In the second session, we’ll work together on individual plans for service.
This featured exercises from the bestselling book ‘Designing Your Life’ to help you imagine your future in the next 5-10-15 years of your life. We addressed some of the big questions in life: Who am I? Where am I going in the next few years of my life? What do I believe in? These two sessions were designed to open the door to thinking about your life and the next few years as a series of possibilities whose outcome has yet to be determined. For example: Does the work I imagine doing align with my personal values? What would I do if money were no object?
A two day internship fair at Herndon High School, for 400 students and 40 employers.
The fair was two days for 6 hours each day, with waves of students coming through. Employers offered internships involved in transportation, automotive, electrical trades, finance, banking, medical/healthcare, senior living, hospitality, catering, restaurant/dining, technology, government contracting, real estate, law, architecture, human resources, aeronautics, retail, town government and nonprofits.
Students also participated in presentations on the benefits of requesting mentors who will help students find, apply for, prepare for and excel at their internships.
A 3-hour program for 80 students and their parents designed to encourage conversations about making more informed vocation decisions. Students from eight different high schools attended.
Twenty-three panelists in breakout sessions shared reflections on the paths they’ve travelled and the lessons they’ve learned. Panelists included three guidance counselors, a financial planner, and eight young adults with a variety of life experiences and fascinating careers.
The students and their parents convened in one group for lunch and a panel titled ‘How trying different stiff can result in surprising careers."
Students from college chat with high school students about questions that admissions officers might not discusss. Questions like:
How is college life different from high school? How are classes different from high school classes? Do you feel like you can express your opinions freely in class and on campus? Do you feel pressure to succeed in college? From what sources? Do you have to appear to be successful, or can you show yourself as you really are in and out of class, to friends and professors? What’s the day to day life like? How’s the schedule different? What was it like leaving home? What’s it like coming home after being in college? How did your college choice work out? How would you have done the college search differently? What is the social life like? How did you make friends? How did you get paired with roommates? What advice do you have about that? How do you deal with conflicts with your roommates? Did you join a fraternity or sorority? Why or why not? Describe your social life. How is it similar or different to your life when you were in high school? (Do you feel pressured to drink excessively or engage in risky behavior? How do you deal with that pressure?) Do you ever feel unsafe in social or other situations? Did you ever observe your friends behaving inappropriately to other students? What was picking classes like? What do you wish you’d done differently? How does picking your major work? Are you involved in any church activities in college? What’s that like? What other sports, clubs and other activities are you involved in? What do you recommend?
Harraseeket has supported multiple forums on financial literacy, covering topics like budgeting, student debt and cost of living, banking, apps for dealing with finances, and saving.
Over dinner, five mentors discussed with 4 dozen students and parents their career paths, the choices they made and what they’d learned.
Students and young adults convened to imagine their future— not design it, but imagine its possibilities, together.
Starting with questions like, Who am I? Where am I going in the next few years of my life? What are my values? What is important to me? What do I believe in?
The conversation then turned to imagining outcomes that affect choices in careers, work-life balance, where to live, and volunteering.
Over a “Friendsgiving” lunch the day after Thanksgiving, young adults met with students home from college to discuss the real world. What should be expected after college? What do you do about first jobs that might be “soul sucking”? What do you do about living at home e? What are the benefits and disadvantages? How is work life different from college life? (hint: it’s very different!) What did you wish you’d done differently in college?
