Heavener High School was recognized as the top district in Oklahoma for career assessment completions in the first quarter of the 2023 school year. Heavener High School serves students in 9-12th grade and chose Kuder to help meet the Oklahoma ICAP requirements, ensuring students achieve key college and career readiness (CCR) standards prior to graduation.
ICAP requirements for students include:
The partnership between Heavener High School and Kuder goes beyond simply meeting the state requirements. Heavener’s staff members are committed to making sure their students are set up for success. Their team enables students to see more possibilities than what is available in their rural town by utilizing the full toolset within OKCareerGuide featuring Kuder Navigator.
To serve high school students at Heavener Public Schools, Navigator is used as the comprehensive CCR solution. The Heavener team uses three key activities to involve students in CCR activities and help them build a plan for their future, including assessments, resume building, and utilizing financial tools in the platform. Plus, their team has mastered getting buy-in from the whole high school staff to cultivate student success with those activities.
Heavener’s high school counselor works with their core class teachers to take a small section of time in each semester to instruct students to complete the three Kuder career assessments. Margo Wright, High Schol Counselor, shared, “I think the one thing I’m successful with for the 9th graders is that I have an English teacher that works diligently that if a student is absent that they’re taking care of business and get them directed to me. Our teachers care about the kids and want them to be successful. I try hard to bounce between English and Science to not take too much class time from each one, and they are required classes, so we don’t miss any students.”
This initiative led to Heavener being ranked number one for the highest percentage of career assessments completed in the 2023 school year within Oklahoma!
To prepare seniors for life after school, Business Teacher Cami Schiffner takes the lead. Cami guides seniors through creating a resume, reference sheet, and cover letter to provide practice for job applications. In addition, her keystone project provides students with insights into a variety of careers. Cami shared, “Students must do a PowerPoint presentation in front of the class on one of their top three career options aligned to their assessment results. I always ask students at the end if they’re still interested in the job they chose after doing the research on it. Their answers are usually split 50/50 if they are still interested or not, which is a great teaching moment to have them see what factors are important to them. The project also exposes the other students in the classroom to all of the career options their classmates are presenting!”
Their high school counselor has worked with core teachers to instruct students to utilize any down time after finishing assignments to explore Navigator. One tool she always encourages students to utilize is the Scholarship Search tool to apply for funds. The resume that students create in their Business class is often used during the scholarship application process. Margo shared that there are thousands of scholarships available within Navigator, which is a great starting point for their students to explore funding opportunities!
Our partnership with Heavener High School has included tailored ICAP reporting to ensure they are equipped with the information they need to meet state requirements in Oklahoma. Our team has also provided ongoing training, student and staff support, and resources to ensure optimal use of the system.
Students have benefitted from taking an average of two assessments each year to understand how their interests, skills, and work values align with career pathways.
Engaging in the system at least twice per school year, on average, students gain value from participating in resume building, education plan creation, and scholarship searches.
