The Shawano School Board signed off March 10 on an update to an academic career plan for students at Shawano Community High School and Shawano Community Middle School.
The academic career plan is a requirement by the state of Wisconsin to make sure academic and career planning services are available to all students, especially those in grades 6-12. The original plan was approved in February 2024, but any changes must be approved annually by the school board.
This year’s seniors will be required to present a post-high school plan in their homeroom not exceeding six minutes, as well as prepare a resume, cover letter and list of references while getting one letter of recommendation. The seniors will need to complete the requirements prior to graduation in May.
Juniors will be required to do all that before graduation next year, along with completing two career-based learning experiences with a write-up on the experiences. Sophomores will also get the added tasks of a youth apprenticeship option and going through assessments from Xello, a career readiness program, while freshmen get an additional career-based learning experience tacked onto their total requirements.
Board member John Arens said he had no problem with the additional requirements for graduation, but he felt additional attention needed to focus on the district’s flagging test scores, which are tied in with the annual report cards received from the state around Thanksgiving.
“The data we got last month shows that our tests are not increasing,” Arens said. “I like what I see here, and I like that we’re challenging our students. But at the same time, without our testing scores increasing, in a lot of ways we’re just saying, ‘You know what? We’re going to send you out with a fantastic letter of recommendation and filling out a job app, but your scores are going to remain the same.’”
Matthew Raduechel, SCHS principal and the administrator who helped develop the plan amendments, said he was going to present “soon” on a plan to address the test scores for Forward and the ACT exams, which are required by the state.
Board member Tim Renard said he didn’t disagree with Arens’ concerns about test scores, but he was more complimentary on the amendments to the career plan.
“Not everybody has that opportunity,” Renard said. “Embedding that into the school curriculum is a good thing for our kids.”
Superintendent Kurt Krizan told the board that the state is looking at revamping the school and district report cards where the test results do not carry as much weight on the report card score. Currently, the test scores and the changes from year to year make up about one-fourth of the score on a report card.
“We’re looking at what other opportunities in school are our students involved in other than just those pieces,” Krizan said. “Whoever turns out to be our new state superintendent (of public instruction), we could see a shift in some of those additional things that we hold true from the CTE (career and technical education) experience and some of those other things.”
Board member Bobbi Lemerond said she liked that the requirements in examining careers increase from year to year.
“I like the gradual increase and that you’re not dumping all of this on the seniors this year,” Lemerond said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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