Oakmont students will take another step towards career readiness: How the new program works

In an effort to teach as many students at Oakmont Regional High School career readiness as possible, the school has created a network of mentors available this academic year to students.

Vice Principal Brian Cote has partnered with MassHire to establish this network of local individuals with careers in various industries, from communications and marketing at major corporations like Amazon and Walmart to local business owners like Smith Country Cheese in Winchendon.

Cote said their goal is to expose juniors and seniors to a wide range of careers before graduation. Oakmont already has an internship requirement for juniors and seniors; he said the board will build and strengthen relationships with a broader range of companies and individuals in the area to give students more internship options, leading to more career options.

"We are trying to build these 13 to 18-year-olds up and expose them to learning about a variety of careers," he said. "The goal here is to continue to foster students' aspirations and give them the attribution to be successful before they exit Oakmont."

What will the mentoring board do?

Since the Employer Advisory Board's first meeting in June, Cote said around 20 to 25 people attended and signed up to be a mentor on the student career network list. The network list will be available to any student by asking their guidance counselor. He said a lot of the members of the board are parents and Oakmont alumni.

Mentoring, internships, personal branding, and career readiness are the four career skills that the board wants to teach students through mentoring.

"If a student is interested in a certain trade or the medical field with this network list, we can show the different careers that exist to that student so they can have options to explore," Cote said. "There are so many jobs in the medical field that aren't just nurses or doctors, but there are lab techs and phlebotomists which don't require (students) to go to a four-year college."

Cote said one of the board's goals this year is to organize a large Career Day with different jobs in the community.

"We want to expose students to careers that are available in the community," he said. "Some students might think college isn't for them because it's too expensive or they just want to enter the workforce after graduating so having people from the community with careers in local industries will hopefully get students aspired to after a career they want."

If anyone is interested in joining the Oakmont Employer Advisory board Cote said to reach out to him through email. He said the board plans to meet three to four times a year, and their next meeting is in September.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Oakmont students will take another step towards career readiness: How the new program works