PEAKPathways, Exposure, Academic Connection and Knowledge

Mountain View Los Altos High School DistrictMarch 2016

Mission

To provide exposure to students who don't have means otherwise, to see scope and variety of diversity, skill sets, educational pathways and mindsets needed for today's jobs.

Goals

For Students• Shift mindset to believe work can

be exciting and fulfilling.

• Understand that there are a wide variety of career opportunities.

• Help students understand pathways to college and career success.

• Foster personal connections between local business leaders and students.

For Businesses• Give back to local community.

• Engage with underserved, local residents.

• Build youth employment.

Targeted studentsMountain View High School and Los Altos High School AVID* Students

• High potential students nominated by teachers.

• Continue to meet above average academic standards.

• Underserved students.

• Typically first-generation college students.

• Very few have been in a professional work environment.

*Advancement Via Individual Determination, an elective program for grades 9-12

Our model

Visits to companies

Speakers in classrooms

Internships/ jobs

Individual pathway

Juniors and seniorsFreshmen and sophomores

Collaborative effort:2015-16 company visits

Curriculum

PreparationVISIT

ReflectionTeachers meet with company executives to finalize visit details.

Students research company; discuss professional dress and behavior.

Employees come to school and preview agenda.

Company transportation, e.g., bus, if possible.

Personal interaction with recent college hires, ideally first-generation college students, e.g., small group roundtable or informal conversation over lunchHow does the work you do match your interests ?

Do you like your job? Why?If you were giving advice to your high school

today, what would it be?What did you do yesterday at work? Is that a

typical day?

Lunch

Company overview and campus tour, including offices.

What did you learn

Thank you to company

What the teachers said“For nearly all students, this was the first

time they were able to step into the doors of a major corporation, let alone see behind the scenes and interact with employees. Hearing

that other professionals besides engineers and scientists work for high-tech companies

was an eye-opener.”

“Experience like this expands my students’ worlds. It allows them to seem more options for

their future and to dream of something larger for themselves. My students came back inspired to

study harder and push through the challenges in their own lives in order to achieve their goals of

going to college and getting a good career.”

What the students said“I am going to

collaborate more in order to do something

big.”

“Something that I learned was that I can have an opportunity to work at Adobe.”

“Choices are everything.”

“You can study a major you are passionate about and STILL work

in the Tech Industry.”

“Even when his life was rough, he did not give up and always tried in school. At the end, after trying and trying he

got a great job at Linked In.”

Scheduling for 2016-17

• 3 classes of sophomores and 2 classes of freshmen

• Fall semester – October 2016

• Spring semester – February 2017

• Contact Susie Mielke, MVLA Scholars, smielke@hotmail.com