CCHS Students Explore Careers in Personal Genetics

high school students work at a table with a teacher

Career Exploration continues to be at the forefront of our students’ experience at Colonie Central High School. 

Students in NYS MasterTeacher Connie Woytowich’s Personal Genetics course explored STEM careers as part of their mid-term assessment. In this college-level course and as part of this project, students were challenged to complete a self-assessment, a career investigation, and a reflection as to whether or not they would pursue their selected career based on their research findings. 

To facilitate this project, Mrs. Woytowich’s students attended the College and Career Planning Center (CCPC) and took advantage of the opportunities available in this new resource space.  

“Through my work with my students in the College and Career Planning Center and counselor Mrs. Mesick, I discovered that this was a wonderful way to bridge the gap between the teachers and the Counseling Center with regards to enabling students’ pathways to success,” Woytowich said. “As an educator, I am grateful that this was made possible through the work of Mrs. Mesick and Mrs. Tresansky over the past school year.”

“These partnerships and collaborations are so valuable in terms of educating the whole individual,” added coordinator Mesick. “We want to see students learning about content and careers in the classroom, and then putting action plans into motion with regard to their future plans.”

The project contained a reflective component where students were asked to share whether or not they would pursue their selected career and why. CCHS sophomore Edvin Hrelja commented, “I strongly believe that this path is the path that I should take when it comes to my future career. It has my full interest.”

As part of his reflection, Hrelja also commented, “The Career Center is a room that is very productive when it comes to looking for jobs and opportunities to grow. It helps students advance in their lives.”

In addition to the STEM Career Exploration project, 2013 CCHS graduate Carina Ross and colleague Meghan Riley from Sage Graduate School spoke with the students about their career choices in the field of Occupational Therapy (OT). At this presentation, students learned about the daily job responsibilities of an Occupational Therapist and of the many different places that OTs actually work. Students also had the opportunity to explore actual OT trade tools and ask candid questions of the two practitioners to really get a sense of what a career in this field would look like.

Future opportunities to explore careers in STEM fields are planned in the CCPC in the upcoming months.