As schools build and refine their career pathway education programs as part of Georgia’s College and Career Ready Performance Index, UGA Extension agents in each county are ready to help.

Georgia 4-H has developed lesson plans for students in fifth grade exploring careers in finance, information technology, marketing and government and public administration. Forty Georgia 4-H programs have adopted these lessons as part of the career awareness curriculum for elementary schools.

“Georgia 4-H takes great pride in equipping youth to be workforce ready,” said Arch Smith, UGA Extension 4-H & Youth Development State Program Leader. “Workforce development is a key component of the experience of 4-H Project Achievement. We consider this yet another invaluable opportunity to serve as a resource to our partners in education.”

The career pathways curricula became important to Georgia’s schools during the 2012-2013 school year when Georgia abandoned the Adequately Yearly Progress rating system set up by the “No Child Left Behind” act for the College and Career Ready Performance Index. This new accountability tool rates schools on a 100 point scale, taking into account factors including test scores, teacher affectivness and, for the first time, whether the school provides college and career path education to students.

UGA Extension agents who work in fields ranging from agriculture to family and consumers sciences and Georgia 4-H have participated in career fairs in school acros the state, sharing information about their careers and the myriad of STEM and public service careers available through the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

For more informationa about ways UGA Extension can help support career pathways planning at your local school, please email mmarable@uga.edu or call your local UGA Extension agent.