JA Success Skills meets the needs of a diverse group of high school students by providing engaging, academically enriching, and experiential learning sessions in work-readiness education and career perspectives. Seven required, volunteer-led sessions.
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KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES |
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Session One: It’s My Life
Students are introduced to the 16 Success Skills. Working in groups, they evaluate sample resumes to determine which job candidate they would hire.
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- Identify personal work-readiness skills.
- Complete a personal skills assessment.
- Explore connections between their personal assessment and their dreams, values, goals, and skills.
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Session Two: Listen Up
Working with partners, students participate in a role-playing activity designed to develop effective speaking and listening skills. Using verbal and nonverbal cues, they learn how to build rapport with others.
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- Explore strategies of effective formal and informal workplace communication.
- Identify nonverbal communication uses and implications.
- Complete an informal self-assessment.
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Session Three: Stay Connected
By analyzing case studies and completing a puzzle activity, students recognize the need for teamwork and cooperation in the workplace.
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- Identify the role of cooperation, integrity, and respect in effective teamwork.
- Evaluate strategies for working effectively with others to achieve a mutual goal.
- Complete an informal self-assessment.
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Session Four: Think Win/Win
Working in teams, students develop solutions to potential workplace conflicts. They consider win/win, win/lose, and lose/lose responses to conflict.
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- Evaluate and apply effective speaking and listening skills to resolve conflict.
- Identify and implement win/win solutions to conflict.
- Complete an informal self-assessment.
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Session Five: Work Smart
Working in groups, students participate in a game show in which they practice their decision-making skills by solving common workplace problems.
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- Identify and apply strategies necessary for effective problem-solving in real-life contexts.
- Complete an informal self-assessment.
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Session Six: The Marketing Spin
Working in groups, the students practice the Success Skill Reflect and Evaluate. They identify the connection between advertising a product and promoting themselves.
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- Analyze and assess product advertising.
- Present selected products based on advertising information.
- Assess and evaluate personal information and prepare a resume.
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Session Seven: It’s My Future
During this final session, students participate in mock employment interviews. They review the 16 Success Skills presented throughout the course of the program.
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- Identify effective interviewing skills.
- Evaluate peers and provide feedback.
- Reflect on the JA Success Skills experience.
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