OceanIT Research Foundation

Pathway to Purpose – A High School Career-based Learning Program

SUMMARY

The Pathway to Purpose is a career-based learning program which integrates academics, industry, community and innovation to bring experiential learning opportunities to high school students in Hawai‘i with the goal that every student finds a meaningful, well-paying career that positively impacts their communities. Students engage in robust work-based learning opportunities and are supported by a personalized curriculum tailored to meet high school course credit requirements. Beyond academic classes, we build an ecosystem of support that infuses students’ education experience with relevance, expands their individual potential, and cultivates meaningful relationships with networks that propel them forward in their chosen path after graduation. The Pathway to Purpose program is available to any high school student in Hawai‘i from public, charter, homeschool or private schools. The pathways are led by an industry professional, educational leader and peer mentor in each pathway session.

PROJECT LEAD : Mary Wenstrom, Ian Kitajima

CONTACT :
mary@myp2pi.org or mary_wenstrom@mail.harvard.edu
(218) 731-9230

OUTCOME :

Pathway to Purpose defines success as creating opportunities for students that are relevant, rigorous, and relational. Since beginning in January of 2021, we’ve worked with over 250 students, 40+ schools across Hawai‘i, and created 11 unique pathways for students to choose from. Our community has grown to include over 50 industry partners, peer mentors, and expert community guests that have worked with students and provided them connections and resources to explore their dreams.

Throughout each session students learn technical and professional skills through classes and work towards a culminating project that is based on real-world applications. This year, some of the student projects were: A crowdsourced app that allows people to capture photos of 'Ohi'a trees to track the progress of rapid 'Ohi'a death fungal disease with the goal of aiding conservation efforts to stop the spread and protect Hawaiian forests.

An autonomous ROV (remotely operated vehicle) that scours coral reefs near the islands and maps the health of local reefs. A local artisanal woodworking craft store that helps conserve native fauna with every sale of sustainably sourced jewelry. A 60 second animation that showcased hand-painted art and told the story of the ocean around Hawai‘i.

Within Pathways, we also create practical outcomes that position students to succeed after graduation. Students complete the program with a portfolio, resume, business plan and/or an action strategy. Students also gain a range of professional and technical skills that are suited to their chosen career pathway.

Pathway to Purpose measures our impact in various ways. Some examples include:

Peer mentors create touchpoints with each student weekly to get qualitative feedback on how students are doing.
Formative assessments gauge how each session is received by students, asking questions such as “What ideas from this session connected to what you already knew?” and “How can you apply this information to your life?”.
A final showcase allows students to demonstrate their learning through real-world application and gives the community a chance to provide feedback and celebrate their work.

After going through the Pathway to Purpose program, students tell us they feel more confident tackling big problems, have a plan for what they want to do after high school, enjoy hands-on learning, and feel supported by their community.

More data, information, and stories are available in our 2022 Impact Report.

LESSONS LEARNED :

Pathway to Purpose has learned an incredible amount of information from launching our program and working with students to create pathways to meaningful careers in Hawai‘i.

Four main ideas have proven critical as we move forward:

Student, Families, and Education Leaders are ready for innovative learning opportunities After working with over forty schools and hundreds of students, we have heard how incredibly important it is for students to have a variety of opportunities to explore their passions. Students are desperate for education that is aligned with their own personal missions, families are looking for ways to provide high quality enrichment opportunities, and educators love the idea of having more chances for students to engage with their learning.
The program must be Student-Centric As we continue to improve, we’ve seen how important it is that we continually center the students at the core of everything we do. By constantly seeking out new partnerships, soliciting feedback, updating classes in real-time, creating new in-person learning opportunities, and bringing in expert guests, Pathway to Purpose has seen the increase in engagement, learning, and fun that the students have experienced.
Accessibility must be a priority, not an afterthought In the wake of the COVID pandemic, educational disparities have only been heightened. We have seen this firsthand by the number of students that need additional support (technology, assignment personalization, someone to talk to, etc) to help them succeed in our program. At Pathway to Purpose, we believe every student has a suite of superpowers and it is our responsibility to help unlock them. In order to do this, we need to prioritize accessibility for all students - whether that’s by creating programming that can be utilized by students in any location in Hawai‘i, creating a technology loan program to help get students online, or assigning every student a peer mentor who can provide 1-on-1 support throughout the week.
It takes an invested community to make it all work We know we could not do this amazing work without the support of our industry leaders, educators, peer mentors, school leaders, students, families, and financial supporters. In fact, we would love to grow our partnerships with school leaders to ensure active future enrollments, follow-up opportunities, and enduring communication and support. We have been working extensively to ensure that every stakeholder in our program feels like they are important and making a difference in students' lives.