Welcome to your resource center for your Dream UP! Career Exploration Program, generously funded by The Office Depot Foundation. This program is designed to be simple and effective, with little outside prep on your part. It helps students figure out who they are (at least, as best as fourteen-year-olds can!) so they can figure out who they want to be when they grow up!
What does the program include?
- USA TODAY newspapers: To bring the “real world” into career exploration.
- The Dream UP student lessons: To guide students in exploring who they are in order to identify what they want to do as a career.
- The Dream UP Essay challenge: The best essay of your students’ final essay is submitted to the national competition for a chance for that student to win a day in his/her dream job.
So what do you do?
- Print the teacher’s guide below.
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Follow the teacher’s guide for the 16-session program. It will tell you exactly how to incorporate USA TODAY and guide you and your students through drafting final essays and submitting your one best one to the national contest.
- Teacher's Guide (pdf)
- Essay Writing Tips (pdf)
- Dream Up! Overview (video)
| Lesson |
|---|
| Session 1: Career scavenger hunt |
| Session 2: From ‘twinkle to wrinkle’ |
| Session 3: What is most important in your life? |
| Session 4: Turning dreams into goals |
| Session 5: Taking an inventory of your life |
| Session 6: Fast, slow: How do you know |
| Session 7: Decisions, decisions |
| Session 8: Break out of the box! |
| Session 9: How do you experience it all? |
| Session 10: What do employers look for in addition to job skills and experience? |
| Session 11: Exploring occupations |
| Session 12: Dream UP essay – parts 8-14 |
| Session 13: Dream UP essay – draft |
| Session 14: Tips for the college bound |
| Session 15: Dream UP essay – peer feedback |
| Session 16: Dream UP essay –presentations |
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Watch Hannah as she experiences her Dream Job:
a day-in-the-life of a chemist!
| Congratulations to the 2011 winners and their teachers! |
|---|
| STUDENT: Alejandro BenitezAlbritton Jr High, Fort Bragg, NC
CAREER: Auto designer TEACHER: Tamara Netzel STUDENT: Hannah Fuchs Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle, Phoenix, AZ CAREER: Chemist TEACHER: Kathryn Riley STUDENT: Vanessa Macias Columnia Explorers Academy, Chicago, IL CAREER: Teacher TEACHER: Claudia Peratta STUDENT: Jenna Nabors 71st Classical Middle, Fayetteville, NC CAREER: Broadcasting TEACHER: Valerie Mercer STUDENT: Aylin Stout Albritton Jr High, Fort Bragg, NC CAREER: Pilot TEACHER: Tamara Netzel |