Image: Penn State Behrend May 4, 2021
The business classes Nicole Wethli teaches at Fairview Middle School begin with the basics: keyboarding, report formatting and Excel.
From there, the curriculum gets trickier: The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires 12 career-exploration activities – and an individualized career plan for every student – by the end of eighth grade. Eight more are required by the end of 11th grade.
Wethli meets those requirements by bringing in guest speakers, including faculty members from the Black School of Business at Penn State Behrend.
“When students first think about going into business, they often think, ‘I’m going to have to sit behind a desk all day,’” Wethli said. “Not all careers in business are like that, of course, so it’s important for students to hear different perspectives, with real-life examples of how businesses operate. That encourages them to explore the many options that are available to them.”