More than 650 eighth graders from the 10 Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES component school districts are touring Career and Technical Education programs at BOCES for this year’s Journey from 8 to Great visits.
When presenting to students from Little Falls and Poland on Tuesday, Feb. 10, Herkimer BOCES School to Careers liaisons MaryBeth Napolitano and Sarah Crowe told students to start thinking about career planning, what interests them about the BOCES programs and how their academics apply to the programs.
“Today is about you starting to think about your future,” said Napolitano, who is also a work-based learning coordinator for Herkimer BOCES. “We’re so excited for you. We have a morning full of exploration.”
Eighth graders from Central Valley, Herkimer, Little Falls, Mount Markham, Poland, Richfield Springs and West Canada Valley attended the Journey from 8 to Great from Tuesday, Feb. 10, through Friday, Feb. 13. Dolgeville, Frankfort-Schuyler and Owen D. Young are being rescheduled because there was a two-hour delay on Monday, Feb. 9, when they were scheduled to visit.
Herkimer BOCES also will be hosting 10th graders during Sophomore Visitation Day on Thursday, March 5, and will be hosting the public Open House from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, at the Herkimer BOCES William E. Busacker Complex at 352 Gros Blvd. in Herkimer.
During the Journey from 8 to Great, students not only get to visit the 14 Career and Technical Education programs that students take in grades 11-12, but also the Herkimer BOCES Valley Pathways in Technology Early College High School (VP-TECH) and Real Experience and Designed Instruction in Technical Education Careers (READiTEC) programs, which both start in ninth grade.
It’s very helpful for students to visit programs they could enter next year or three years from now, Napolitano said.
“They’re able to really see what it’s like,” she said.
‘Our mission’
Herkimer BOCES School to Careers launched the Journey from 8 to Great in 2013 to introduce students at an earlier age to their career options and the technical education opportunities at Herkimer BOCES.
With the New York State Education Department introducing its Portrait of a Graduate framework as part of the New York Inspires initiative and the state putting more emphasis on career exploration at a younger age, the Journey from 8 to Great has an elevated importance, Napolitano and Crowe said.
“Today’s learners more than ever require a more relevant, hands-on learning experience,” Crowe said.
The Journey from 8 to Great isn’t just about recruiting students for technical education programs, Napolitano said.
“Is this a pre-recruitment? Absolutely, but the Journey from 8 to Great was designed to help the students with their career planning with their school counselors, so they’re not going in blind and then it’s too late,” Napolitano said. “We really feel with the Portrait of a Graduate and New York Inspires that this is what our mission is more than ever. This is the foundation of School to Careers.”
Kayleigh Jouben, Richfield Springs high school counselor, said that bringing students to BOCES in eighth grade is great timing because it takes place before eighth grade seminar, which is when the Richfield Springs works with students to talk about who they are, the lifestyle they want when they grow up and their career path.
The Journey from 8 Great provides career exposure and knowledge about all the opportunities at BOCES, Jouben said.
“It’s really helpful because it gets their wheels spinning – because they only know what they know,” she said.
Melissa Hull, a special education licensed teaching assistant at Herkimer Central School District, said she and the students she was with were impressed when visiting the CTE classrooms.
“It was a great experience to see the hands-on learning,” Hull said. “I heard a lot of positive remarks from the students who were taking the tour.”
Student leaders
Herkimer BOCES School to Careers facilitates the Journey from 8 to Great, but student leaders also play a huge role by serving as tour guides and as speakers for each program.
“This event couldn’t run without our student leaders,” Crowe said.
Having students talk about the programs also makes the information feel more relevant for the eighth graders, Crowe and Napolitano said.
“The eighth graders want to hear from the seniors,” Crowe said.
“It’s more powerful hearing the students talking about the program,” Napolitano added. “It’s more impactful.”
Student leaders also earn work-based learning hours toward their CTE programs or community service hours for their home district for the work they put into 8 to Great.
Herkimer BOCES Health Science Careers senior Ellianna Rivera, from Little Falls City School District, was a speaker for her program. During her presentation, she said the program opens many opportunities and that students in the program are already receiving nursing job offers while in high school.
“If there is anyone that wants to go into the medical field, then this is a great program to go into,” Rivera said, after speaking to students. “I just want to make sure they know that.”
Rivera said she brings up as many benefits about the program as she can think of – including that taking a program she is interested in helped turn around her focus on academics and improve her grades as she became more determined to work in the industry.
“I always had an interest in the medical field – it just made me more passionate about it,” she said.
Herkimer BOCES Welding and Metal Fabrication senior Vance Levellie, from Little Falls City School District, put on a demonstration and spoke to eighth graders. Levellie said he believes 8 to Great is helpful for the visiting students as they determine if they want to take a CTE program.
“Yeah, because then they can think about what they’re going to do,” he said.
Leveillie said he tells students about the benefits of the Welding and Metal Fabrication class.
“It’s a pretty good program,” he said. “You can graduate from here with everything you need to start welding.”
Herkimer BOCES Culinary and Hospitality seniors Danielle Kane, of Richfield Springs Central School District, and Zyan Cabrera, of Herkimer Central School District, presented for their program, as freshly baked cookies were served to guests. The students said they think eighth graders benefit from visiting.
“I think it will be able to help them, and it will help them realize if they want to do this,” Kane said.
Cabrera said he enjoys presenting to the eighth graders about the Culinary and Hospitality program, teachers and students and how the program has helped him in his career journey.
“It made me realize I can do anything I want to if I put my mind to it,” he said.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Health Science Careers seniors Ellianna Rivera (first from right) Ashima Rushing (second from right) – both from Little Falls City School District – present to eighth graders during the Journey from 8 to Great on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Herkimer BOCES.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES School to Careers liaisons MaryBeth Napolitano (standing front-middle, on right) and Sarah Crowe (standing front-middle, on left) speak to local eighth graders during the Journey from 8 to Great on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Herkimer BOCES.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego Welding and Metal Fabrication senior Vance Levellie, from Little Falls City School District, puts on a demonstration for local eighth graders during the Journey from 8 to Great on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Herkimer BOCES.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego Culinary and Hospitality seniors Zyan Cabrera (first from right), of Herkimer Central School District, and Danielle Kane (second from right), of Richfield Springs Central School District, present to local eighth graders in the Culinary and Hospitality classroom during the Journey from 8 to Great on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Herkimer BOCES.
Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego Culinary and Hospitality seniors Zyan Cabrera (first from right), of Herkimer Central School District, and Danielle Kane (second from right), of Richfield Springs Central School District, present to local eighth graders in the Culinary and Hospitality kitchen during the Journey from 8 to Great on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Herkimer BOCES.