Giving Compass' Take:

• Xello is an interactive tool that helps high schoolers with college and career readiness planning.  Wendy McMahon at EdSurge interviewed Cody Lee, who implemented this tool at her job as the  Post Secondary Programs Coordinator for Valley Center USD. 

• What other interactive tools are helping kids in high school prepare for college?

• Read about why edtech is the key to early career readiness. 

When her high school music teacher and mentor passed away, Cody Lee wavered on her dream of becoming a music teacher. Instead, she spent two years at a junior college in general education before declaring a major in accounting—mainly because she had done well in her high school accounting classes. But her heart wasn’t in it. “I took my first accounting class two years into my degree and bombed my first test.” So, she marched herself across campus to the Education department and decided to teach business instead.

Today, Lee is a Post Secondary Programs Coordinator for Valley Center USD 262. She runs the Valley Center High School internship program and helps students gain valuable work experience and career knowledge before they head off to college and careers. While Lee’s own path wasn’t exactly direct, research and experience tell her that many students wait until after high school graduation to even consider their career options—and even then they may not fully understand what each one entails.

With that in mind, Lee implemented Xello, a career and college-readiness platform designed to boost students’ future readiness and make career planning more student-centered. The tool also supports the Kansas State Department of Education’s move to provide Individual Plans of Study for students.

Lee shares how Xello—combined with the district’s internship program, advisory classes and certifications—encourages Valley Center USD students to take a deep dive into their career options long before they leave high school.

Read the full article about interactive career planning tool by Wendy McMahon at EdSurge.