Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!  Hope your Winter Break was restful.  We'll be using this blog page from now on to manage communications, share important information and tools, and maintain our schedule.  Please make sure to "Bookmark" this page for easy access, as we'll log in and check the blog on a daily basis.


To get back in to the swing of things, we're going to do a little "warm-up" investigative research this week.  This will help refocus your skills as a reporter, and strengthen your overall research abilities.

Our first topic/big question is:  "How ready am I for the real world?"  On behalf of your audience (AHAHS students, remember?), you'll be researching potential careers, and gathering the following information from multiple resources:

1. Summary job description, including skills, requirements and responsibilities associated with your chosen career field.
2. Number of NM jobs available in your chosen career field.
3. Average salary for a job in your chosen career field.
4. Growth rate (positive or negative) for jobs in your chosen career field.
5. Education and/or training requirements in your chosen career field.

Once you have gathered data on the above, you'll need to write a short summary report about whether available programs here on campus are helping to prepare students for the career field you're investigating.  If AHAHS does not have a specific preparation program (say, for example, Construction and Manufacturing), you'll need to investigate where students can access those programs (CEC, a charter school, etc.).

Resources:
This is just a list to get you started.  You are encouraged to investigate, and evaluate, additional valid resources.  BE SURE to keep a list of all resources used, and include in your Power Point on the appropriate slide.
 https://www.jobs.state.nm.us/faq.asp?session=faq   Research stats for a specific job field in NM
http://www.dws.state.nm.us/careersolutions/CSS-cluster.html  Investigate Career Clusters in NM
http://lehd.ces.census.gov/datatools/datatools.html  U.S. Census site with links to local employment data (click on the "Industry Focus" and "Data Visualization" links for more info)
http://www.monster.com/  Job posting website that lets you search for a specific job in New Mexico; includes job requirements, like degree or certification, years of experience, specific skills, and salary ranges.
http://www.requirementstobecome.com/index.htm  MASSIVE list of careers, with the skills and training required for each.  Lots of great info!

Outcomes:
You will create a Power Point presentation that contains the following info for your audience:

1. An opening slide that explains the career you're investigating, and the basic responsibilities, skills and requirements for this career.  (For example, "must excel at math" or "physical labor required"  would be key information to include.)
2. A Data Slide that charts employment info for your chosen career field.  Can be current employment statistics, job growth rates, salary ranges over a period of time, salary increases with additional education/training, or other relevant info.
3. At least one slide that summarizes the specific education and/or training requirements needed for an entry-level (beginning) position in this career field.
4. One slide that explains the expected beginning salary range and average salary range for this career field, as well as the number of jobs currently available in New Mexico in this job area.
5. Current preparatory programs, at AHAHS and beyond (include at least 1 other resource), that may help prepare students for a career in this field; and information about at least one post-secondary program (CNM or other junior college, 4-year college like UNM, or other institution) that offers preparation for your chosen career field.

You will present your Power Point to the class for review, and submit for use during our broadcast this semester, along with a half-page script of your presentation.
 
Evaluation:  The complete project is worth 55 points.
You will be evaluated on the following:

1. Adequate time and effort spent researching your career field during class time (5 points).
2. At least 3 resources cited in your Power Point presentation.  Resource(s) should be cited on the same slide as the information you have obtained from that resource.  Be sure that your resources are fully and accurately cited (6 points).
3. A Power Point presentation containing the 5 slides listed above, with all required information (25 points).
4. Professional presentation of your Power Point to the class, utilizing a prepared half-page script that outlines your research on the chosen career field (10 points).
5. Submission of your Power Point and a half-page script of your presentation by the specified deadline (9 points).