Mayfield High School administrators have agreed that the importance of career exploration throughout high school is not appreciated as much as it should be.

As mentioned by these administrators, students are receiving more opportunities to have benefits for their future integrated into their daily schedules.

Principal Jeffrey Legan devotes much of his time to thinking of new ways to engage students during their high school years. He stresses the importance of making it easier for students to earn opportunities before college. About his motivation behind this, he said, “College is expensive… I didn’t realize all the opportunities or jobs that were out there so exposing those to students as early as possible I think is critical.”

Similarly, Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Staff Development, Jarrod Mulheman, heavily promotes student involvement beyond the traditional classroom setting.

He said, “You can get a high school student to gain experience within a field that they are passionate about, or figure out, if it’s something they really don’t like. It’s low risk. You don’t have to spend money after high school, or college, or technical school to figure out if you like that experience.”

Passion is another value preached by Legan. He hopes that his students have passion to maximize success in the future. “We work for a long time, and we want students to be able to enjoy what they’re doing when they leave high school,” he said.

On the topic of career exploration, nowadays one may often times find themselves or others undecided on a major heading into college, or unsure about what their interests are throughout high school, as both Legan and Mulheman agree.

Mulheman relieves these thoughts, though, with an optimistic outlook on each individual’s future. He said, “I always use my wife and I as a perfect example. My wife knew in elementary school she wanted to be a pharmacist, and that’s what she does. For me, I took much longer to figure out what I wanted to do.”

Worried over the constant pressure on students to focus on future preparation, Legan looks towards new the new Capstone program for seniors as well as other involvement programs to hopefully expose students to early independent opportunities. He said, “We want students to be able to have a taste, or just an opportunity, for what jobs there are outside of high school. I think too many times we’re stuck between these confined walls, and we’re so focused on math, English, social studies.”

Legan and Mulheman imagine that this way of running high school will lead to an easier path for success in the workplace as students get accustomed to certain activities they might find unique.

Mulheman claims that there is a solution to undecided interest among students.

Along with promoting the Excel TECC program of Mayfield and surrounding districts, he said, “I would say that it’s important to talk to adults about what they do and it’s also important to start at an early age and that’s really about our district getting more involved with that career maturation process a lot earlier, which we do a really good job of, I think.”

Legan supports another idea for students seeking these interests. He said,  “Talk to your counselor. Talk about what you’re interested in or even just what’s available. I know there are interest surveys but we want to be able to connect people and allow this networking to take place now, because as you network, you never know how it’s going to benefit you down the road.”

Mulheman reassuringly said, “I think it’s more important to really think about yourself and what’s important to you because most people end up changing careers anyways, like changing college majors, and some change careers as adults anyways.”

Kurt Specht, a student passionate about the medical field, weighs in on how he thinks the school has served him well for his dreams. He said, “They provide many in-school programs to students and inform students of out-of-school programs, as well, that could better shape some people. Also, the teachers do a great job of preparing students for college and especially the real world.”

Similarly, student Sammi Matteucci expressed how her schedule has set her on pace to achieve her goals as soon as she graduates high school. She said, “Through Mayfield giving students the option to take [Advanced Placement] classes and [College Credit Plus] classes, we can get college credit and they’ll prepare  us for the rigor of college classes.”

Specht made the most of Mayfield’s advice. When they alerted him of an opportunity, he followed through and used the connection for his passion.

He said, “The school sent out an email about a summer internship at the Cleveland Clinic, and I saw that. I applied, got an interview for the internship, and a, currently waiting to be notified if I got the internship or not.”

Appreciative of the school’s contribution to the growth of its students, Matteucci said, “They also offer a variety of other classes that can help people prepare for their future. For example, I am interested in interior design so I am going to take an interior design course next year.”

For more information about available classes, see a guidance counselor, or ask a teacher about the different classes that may be offered. Excel TECC is open for juniors and seniors, the Capstone program for seniors, STEM courses for any grade level, and CCP and AP courses for sophomores to seniors.