Red Top Meadows Teams up with Department of Vocational Rehabilitation

Armed with freshly printed resumes, prepared for potential interview questions, and excited to ask employers questions of their own, the students of Red Top Meadows recently took part in mock interviews with real employers from local businesses. Avery Bedford, a teacher from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, along with Jamie Lasden, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, worked with the teaching staff at Red Top Meadows to organize a career exploration course. The resulting course was an engaging, relevant, and comprehensive tour of finding, obtaining, and continuing employment. The course started in November and culminated with the mock interviews the last week of January. Students spent time deciding what careers and potential after school jobs would be right for them. They filled out job applications, developed resumes, found appropriate jobs, discovered who to contact for employment, and learned how to present well to employers. Prior to the mock interviews, the students took a field trip to meet with local employers and discover some potential jobs within the valley. Additionally, Avery worked individually with our high school aged students to identify goals and resources for the future. Since beginning to work with Avery, one of our students has secured a consistent volunteer position with the Animal Adoption Center. That volunteer work is providing priceless on-the-job experience. While Avery’s work with the school has wrapped up for now, she continues to work with individual high school students and fosters career and employment awareness as well as future planning.