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 In her work with local K-12 schools, MCC Career Advisor Amy Zdanowski noticed a gap in career programming.

“Too often, career readiness is treated as an add-on; a one-time event; a lesson; or a field trip,” Zdanowski recalled. “Those experiences have value, but they don’t build a system. And without a system, those efforts fade when budgets shift, staff changes, or priorities move.”

It wasn’t long ago that Zdanowski discovered a system that could be perfect for Montcalm-area school districts. She attended a session at the National Career Development Conference, led by Educators Cooperative, who showcased their Connect the Work project.

“I remember coming back and telling my colleagues, ‘I found the Holy Grail,’” Zdanowski said.

Connect The Work involves equipping teachers and students with a common career language, known as RIASEC. Each letter in RIASEC stands for a different personality trait, which can then be translated to real-world careers — Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional.

MCC was recently awarded with an Innovative Program Grant obtained from the Michigan College Access Network for $10,000, which was used to partner with Central Montcalm Public Schools to implement a three-year partnership to establish a Career Connected School program with the help of Educators Cooperative.

A handful of K-12 teachers signed up as early adopters of the program and work the RIASEC model into everyday learning. Members of the Educators Cooperative team recently made the trip from California to Stanton to see how the RIASEC education is going and get feedback from the early adopters, as well as other teachers and administrators within the district.

Despite the program being billed as career readiness, Educators Cooperative CEO Steve Regur said the goal is not for children to rush a decision on a career path.

“At the core of this work is identity — how do you see yourself?” Regur stated. “What are your strengths, what are your interests, what are your values? I can ask you at seven, I can ask you at 17, I can ask you at 47, I can ask you at 77. Your ability to answer your strengths, interests and values allows you to be able to now make decisions, look for interests and pursuits.”

Through guided discussion and listing traits of each letter in the RIASEC model, students better start to understand themselves and their peers.

“Some kids would rather pet a dog, some kids would rather wash a dog,” Regur said. “Some kids would rather take the dog for a walk, some kids hate dogs. That’s fine, and it’s OK at seven years old to know that. All we’re giving them is a language to begin to name and claim that so they can aim it. We’re not trying to progress them through a program, we’re trying to activate them.”

Part of that activation came in a discussion led by Regur in Hailey Doornbos’ fourth-grade classroom, where the students were writing letters to their moms for Mother’s Day. Regur listed traits of each of the RIASEC letters to categorize each of the moms and then asked the students to share a story about their mom related to that letter. He then suggested more personalized messages they could write to their mothers based on their stories.

“When Steve told those kids to talk about their mom, they were able to use it and connect to and improve the lesson,” said Kirk Melkonian, CFO and Education Strategist of Educators Cooperative. “You can see before that they’re struggling to find nice things to say to their mom. Now, they can put it into the context of her actual personality, connect to the RIASEC and her interests. The goal is that they’re able to use the language like that in whatever content comes up.”

Quantitative studies conducted by Educators Cooperative show that students who are properly equipped with the RIASEC language and education enter postsecondary schooling with more clarity of their career goals. This could result in fewer program changes in college, which leads to fewer unused credits and spent tuition dollars and, in turn, a quicker graduation timeline.

Over the next two years, Zdanowski and the Educators Cooperative team hope to see continued and increased buy-in from Central Montcalm educators. Even after the partnership expires, Regur is hopeful that the impact of the RIASEC language will have staying power in the district.

“We’ve got some districts where we’ve transitioned out after a couple of years and we’ve seen, so far, that it’s sticking and that’s the hope,” he said. “I think by making it a strategy, we help it to have a life bigger than the superintendent. So, if you change leadership, it’s OK because you’re still going to have this strategy.”