Career Pathways Program Components

Sometimes, this will mean exploring careers students do not want to pursue in the future, which is also helpful to prevent spending time and money on a college preparation program that they determine later is not aligned with their skills and talents. One of our goals for the future is to have all students complete a WCP. We want to ensure all students have school experiences exploring future careers.”

The BHS Warrior Career Pathway committee includes the following BHS staff: Andrea Rusk, Angie Andrist, Brian Bordwell, Christina Lundgren, Emily Neistadt, Landon Brainerd, Shelly Streed, Wendy Vandeputte and Sourcewell Career Consultant, Amy Sjoblad. Maggie Valesco is another essential and integral part of the WCP program. As Sourcewell’s

Director of Career and College Readiness, she shared the Career Pathway program was created by sunsetting two impactful programs.

“This program started with innovation funding through Sourcewell: Rural MN CEP Career Advising and Bridges Career Academies. As the two programs were melded together, we wanted to maintain the positive impact of having a dedicated, embedded point person within schools and providing experience-based pathways to career opportunities,” Valesco added.

Sourcewell’s team collaborated in the program’s first few months to listen, learn and find ways to ensure student impact was central to the program’s mission, vision and structure. The Redefining Ready metrics provided the program with the impact measures element it sought. Using those metrics, they combined the embedded Career Consultant with the following components:

Owen Brainerd, 2024 BHS grad who completed the Business, Administration, Management, and Marketing WCP, said, “WCP allowed me to be recognized for the achievements and work I put into the various elective classes I took to obtain my pathway. Throughout high school, taking various Warrior Career Pathway business classes helped prepare me for the accounting degree I plan to complete at NDSU.”

Students can currently earn certifications and licenses in food safety, lifeguarding, aviation, and nursing assistant, with additional certification options in the works. Credits gained through Advanced Placement (AP) courses, PSEO (postsecondary education option, and CIS (College In Schools) will accompany a student if they advance on to college. WCP added a new experience in 2024 for students who wanted to explore medical career fields under the guidance of Essentia Health Brainerd. Brainerd High School also has partnerships with North Point Aviation, Brainerd YMCA, Advanced Care at Home, LLC, Brainerd Lakes Chamber, Good Samaritan Society, and Lakes Area Music Festival to provide career experiences within the classroom and is actively seeking more local businesses or organizations to partner with.

When asked what the future will hold for WCP, Christina Lundgren, ISD181 Director of Teaching and Learning and WCP committee member, said, “Too often, students graduate from high school with little planning for their future. The WCP program is centered around exposure to multiple career pathways to help in decision-making after high school. Our community needs BHS graduates who are ready to enter the workforce. Through the Warrior Career Pathway program, area students will also gain experiences that help them identify their talents and skills and guide them to a career and a promising future.”