Pathways to Satisfaction is a school program at Madison West High School that includes students in grades 9-12. The program consists of five phases of age appropriate activities and the Becoming Self-Determined curriculum. The first two phases take place in the classroom, while phases three, four and five encourage self-reflecting and developing connections to the community and workplace. In phase one, Focus, 9th and 10th grade students work in small groups or individually on contextual learning lessons. These lessons help students focus on self awareness, individual support networks, and future plans.
Students also engage in teacher directed classroom activities that center on work issues.
In phase four, Connection, students connect the information and experiences they have gained from previous phases and participate in activities which lead to their transition goals. Some examples of these activities are admissions to post-secondary institutions, apprenticeship interviews, or analysis of local labor market data. Students can access information on careers, work, labor, and other related information at the material centers located in three neighborhood centers of the school district. In phase five, Evaluation, students and their parents discuss the career and life decisions made by the student, weighing the positive and negative aspects of each decision. Students are reminded, at all times, that their decisions will affect them throughout their lives.