RESEARCH QUESTION: PROJECT

DESCRIPTION:

Everyone has a tough time thinking about their futures, but our project aims to make it a little easier for St. Charles Students to do so. Our research question is “what can we do to help our students investigate options for their future?” And thus, the Vocational Advisory Board idea was formed. We decided to begin our analysis of the issue by distributing surveys to students and faculty. We asked students questions about how a potential solution would benefit them, so that we would know if this was a problem worth the dedication and effort. We asked staff about previous job experiences that they would be willing to share with the students. We then interviewed theology teacher, Mr. Welsch, concerning a program a similar program he holds in which speakers talk about their careers among other topics concerning mainly economics.

Our survey results indicated that students believed that a lecture or 1-1 meeting with people with field experience in careers interesting to them would be beneficial. We learned that many of our staff members have previous job experiences outside of what they do for us within the St. Charles community, and most are willing to share these experiences with students.

We believe that collecting contact information for a number of individuals with varying career fields that will be accessible by students interested in learning more about paths, such as day to day tasks, education, and opportunities available within a profession.