RISE Mentoring Program

Posted on Categories Career Information and Exploration, College and Career Pathways, Employability Skills, Misc. Lesson Plans & Ideas

At a Glance

The RISE mentoring program at Lawrence County Career and Technical Center (LCCTC) is designed to better prepare students for a successful transition to work and/or post-secondary education.

Overview

RISE stands for Reaching Independence Striving for Excellence. Through this program, each CTE instructor is paired with an academic teacher to mentor a group of students and develop their career readiness. (LCCTC is a comprehensive school.)

Every student (10th through 12th grade) participates in RISE. Students are grouped by their CTE program area, and the RISE groups meet biweekly. During meetings, the program-specific groups focus on career-related topics.

The RISE lessons are developed by the Consortium of Public Education (CPE) team which includes three academic teachers, two CTE instructors and administrators. To determine the specific topics to be addressed, the team analyzes areas of weakness observed in students and areas of concerns communicated by employers. During the 2016-2017 school year, RISE lessons addressed the following topics:

  • financial planning,
  • digital awareness,
  • postsecondary presentations, and
  • entrepreneurship.

Sample lesson plans related to these topics are provided.

The CTE instructor and academic teacher co-teach the lessons during a 40-minute activity period at the beginning of the school day.

The RISE program includes representatives from industry and post-secondary education.  One RISE meeting is a school-wide post-secondary event during which numerous presenters from local businesses, 4-year and 2-year schools, the military, and labor apprenticeship programs share information with students. For this day, students sign up to attend one presentation that interests them.

Another RISE meeting is Entrepreneur Day. For this event, the mentors bring in business owners and employees specific to the CTE program of their mentoring group to present to students. Often these presenters are graduates of LCCTC and also serve as members of the Occupational Advisory Committee for that particular program.

Origin / Implementation

The RISE program was developed to better prepare students for the transition to career and post-secondary opportunities and to help improve student achievement. RISE started during the 2013-2014 school year and underwent modifications and changes in the first few years until the current model was established. The underlying goals of the RISE program is to provide support for all students and to promote all aspects of education that are needed for students to be successful and career ready.

Results / Impact

LCCTC staff and faculty like the format of the RISE program, and they are comfortable with the delivery of the lesson content. Using the current model of implementation, the LCCTC administration plans to continue the RISE program.

Contact

Lawrence County Career and Technical Center
http://www.lcvt.tec.pa.us/
Leonard Rich, Director
lrich@lcvt.tec.pa.us

Supporting Files