Program

WHAT WE DO:

Your Future Is Our Business provides students with a more realistic picture of the world of work to stimulate their thinking about possible careers and what is required to be successful.
This involves four distinct activities:

  • Career Panels

    An in-school opportunity for students to meet with professionals in a wide variety of career areas to learn about what it takes to be successful in the world of work in general. Students and guest speakers gather in relatively small groups of 15 - 35 students, with a moderator, in a structured format for a class period (usually 90 minutes). The discussion is driven by student questions regarding all aspects of the speakers’ career.

    Career Panels are usually integrated into a specific required class (i.e. Economics or US History) and include some preparation and follow-up activities. A Panel may include a variety of speakers (for example: attorney, aircraft technician, marine biologist, FBI agent) or be “focused” on a specific career area, such as “health careers” or “construction technology”. Each year approximately 4000 high school students and nearly 500 professionals throughout Santa Cruz County participate in Career Panels.

    Career Panel 1 Career Panel 2 Career Panel 3

  • Job Shadowing

    Students visit a professional in the workplace to learn first-hand about careers that interest them. Job Shadowing may be done individually or in small groups and is usually a 3 - 4 hour activity. Nearly 500 students each year are engaged in Job Shadowing in Santa Cruz County.

    Job Shadowing 1 Job Shadowing 2 Job Shadowing 2

  • Career Mentor Project

    Provides leadership courses, fieldtrips, and mentoring activities for 150 high-poverty, at-risk youth in Santa Cruz County. Funded through the Workforce Investment Act, the Career Mentor Project is a part of the Sueños Collaborative, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s Alternative Education Program; CareerWorks One Stop Career Center; the City of Watsonville; and YFIOB.

    Career Mentor 1 Career Mentor 2 Career Mentor 3

  • Business/Teacher Events

    Educators and business people meet to exchange ideas about what students need to be successful in the workplace, either during luncheons/dinners or through teacher job shadowing - “Educators in Industry”. Over the past three years more than 400 high school and community college instructors have visited dozens of businesses, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations throughout the region in order to enhance classroom instruction and to better prepare students for making school-to-work transitions.

By integrating these activities with classroom instruction, Your Future Is Our Business builds the connection between school and work, establishing the relevance of education to the student’s future. The program has built a database of over 1200 volunteers interested in serving as speakers, providing job shadowing for students and meeting with teachers.

HOW WE GOT HERE:

Your Future Is Our Business was originally created by the Education Committee of the Greater Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce. Beginning with a pilot at San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1994, the program has added at least one high school each year. To look at our program growth from 1999 to date, click here.

Today, Your Future Is Our Business is an integral part of the Monterey Bay Regional Partnership, a school-to-career collaborative that includes K-16 schools, community-based organizations, business and industry. Our non-profit status provides for tax-deductible support to expand the program countywide.

For more information, please call Your Future Is Our Business at
(831) 477-5651 or email Stacey Smith at stsmith@cabrillo.edu