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School Counseling Office » Career Development

Career Development

The middle school years are a crucial time for one's career development. Throughout our students' middle school careers, they are exposed to different types of careers and are able to explore different career interests. 
 
6th Grade students get to see a presentation from PPL Electric in the fall.
7th grade students get a preview of the Cumberland-Perry Career & Technical Center via a presentation at the end of the school year.
8th grade students take a field trip to Cumberland-Perry Career & Technical Center (CPACTC) in the fall to see 5-10 of their programs. They are then invited to the family interest nights at the beginning of November via postcard in the mail. Students at East Penn can apply to CPACTC in their 9th grade year to start in 10th grade. Here is the link to their website to further explore offerings: https://www.cpatech.org/
 
ALL middle school students use SmartFutures, a career exploration program, which exposes them to career searches, self-discovery, surveys, resume writing skills, portfolio creation, and much more. By the time a student finishes 8th grade, they are required to have 7 pieces of career evidence.
Every student also participates in our Junior Achievement YES program in January. This program utilizes community volunteers to run the program and students will travel between rooms to learn about different career topics. If you as a parent/community member would like to volunteer, please call the school or get in touch with your child's school counselor. Here is the website to learn more: https://www.jascpa.org/yes
 
Most students turn 14 in 8th grade and are eager to start working a part-time job. Once you are 14, you can legally work in Pennsylvania and will need a worker's permit. You/your child can start this process by visiting the front office. There are some documents you will need and the office staff can help them through that. Once they have their working papers, they can apply to any job hiring 14 year olds. Some examples of places our students work are Hershey Park, McDonalds, Olympic Skating Rink, Dairy Queen, and The Pizza Shop. 
 
See the link below to this year's summer program at the Cumberland-Perry Area Career & Technical Center (CTC). It is open to any middle school student.