Well, I'm here to urge businesses to em-brace middle school when forming education partnerships. Every age and grade level is important, but connecting at the middle school level is especially critical. Because more than anything else, middle schoolers need connections to caring adults. Even as they seem to push adults away, they really need and want the safety net of role models who will protect, encourage, motivate and advise them. Middle school students who have come to UPS for job shadowing and other projects have learned that it takes math to ensure that planes are loaded correctly and fly safely.
High school is too late for many students.
If their expectations weren't raised in middle school, they may not have taken the kinds of courses they need to get into college or other post-secondary training programs. Worse, they may have already dropped out. So check out middle school. You may be pleasantly surprised.