Map Your Future Monday!

Each summer, while teachers and students are given much-needed time to rejuvenate and be with their families, school superintendents spend their time working on creating and balancing budgets, making curriculum plans for the upcoming school year, and addressing repairs that need attention. It’s not a glamorous job. Most of the tasks are performed in a boring office with NO kids or teachers around. With the absence of the teachers and students, the “spark” is not there to help us stay motivated—it feels like work.

Most summer days seem mundane, but there are occasional highlights.

It’s 5:30 p.m. on a hot July day, and I hear the welcome sound of WHS graduate, and future architect, Logan Engstrom. He interns for PBK Architects and does a lot of work for Wylie ISD. Logan and PBK are awesome! I have always been impressed by Logan's work ethic. When he was still in high school, we hired him as a part-time worker. It didn’t surprise me that, in his first few weeks on the job, he earned “employee of the month” and was recognized by our staff at the Education Service Center. 

Logan is one of those kids who seems much older than he is. He is wise beyond his years. From time to time, his work brings him to our office and I have the pleasure of visiting with him. Educators dream about these moments. I love hearing updates about his classes and his projects. He allows me to brag on him like he’s my own kid. He will someday become a sought-after architect. I predict world domination. 

Logan was introduced to architecture in his theatre tech class at Wylie High School. He now helps to design theatres and auditoriums. It’s wonderful to see students match their strengths and passions with their career choices. Our hope is that every Wylie student has the chance to find a career that matches their passions and strengths and helps them to map a future that ends in a job they love—just like Logan.

What is the best way to help students explore potential careers? Wylie ISD is proud to introduce Map Your Future Mondays!  Starting Monday, September 11, and continuing each Monday for the rest of the year, we will expose students from kindergarten through 8th grade to different careers by showing videos starring OUR PARENTS and their amazing jobs, such as Dodd Elementary parent and paramedic, Durl Lovell.

When watching the videos, students will learn about what it takes to excel in the highlighted occupations, like becoming a paramedic, and the various facets of the positions. Each video will be followed by a short lesson about the job and will allow the kids to decide whether or not they may be interested in pursuing a specific career path. Last year, students explored twenty careers ranging from personal training to engineering to plumbing. We would like to thank those of you who have already helped to make this happen. We could not have done this without you!

If you are interested in viewing the career videos that have already been produced, you can find them by clicking on this link.

MAP YOUR FUTURE MONDAY VIDEOS LINK

Are you a Wylie parent with an interesting career?  Would you be interested in sharing your career choice with our Wylie ISD students? If so, please click on the link below and sign up. We would love to learn more about your profession!

Parent Video Signup Link

A mentor once told me, “If you have a job you love, you will never work a day in your life.” I love my job, and Logan loves his new career, too. We want the same for your child and every student in Wylie ISD. Please help us get there by exposing our students to as many careers as possible. We want to help them map a future towards amazing and fulfilling work.

Mapping Your Future—it’s the Wylie Way!