I am employed by Parents for Public Schools of Jackson. Our office presently has two ongoing projects related to the work of this commission. The first is a high school task force that meets on a regular basis with representatives from every high school in the district with the goal of developing strategies to improve student achievement. This program focuses on the lowest performing feeder system in the district and implements data driven improvements for the students. When schools establish internships within the business, medical or legal community, they equip young people with experience and knowledge for their possible future careers.
Internships also provide much needed mentoring to improve student achievement and self-confidence.
Schools should also investigate partnering with local colleges and universities so that seniors could complete their high school courses while at the same time earning college credits. Also, a daily mixture of high school academics with vocational courses would benefit those students who are not college bound. Most schools need to provide a better and expanded program of career counseling. There are many vocations and professions that the average high school student is unaware of with today s busy and over-worked counselors. With the appropriate counseling, a student s choice of college or technical training could hopefully be bettermatched.