Four years is a short period of time in the overall scheme of things and no one knows that better than the staff and faculty at Pekin Community High School. PCHS is fortunate to have one of the most robust Career and Technical Education programs in central Illinois with an ever- growing number of careers represented. With 32 pathways, they are no stranger to supporting students towards their future careers. 

Always improving and expanding, in the fall of 2021, PCHS implemented an idea born from the Student Achievement Committee that expanded on what was already being offered in various individual class settings regarding career exploration. What became Future Focus Days, brought a full-scale, all school approach towards demonstrating as many future opportunities as possible to all of the high school students. PCHS also wanted to use Future Focus Days to create and build on school connectedness, knowing its importance in the health and well-being of students. 

So what do these Future Focus Days look like? Three times each year, regular classes are paused for the first two periods of the day to focus solely on career exploration and school connectedness. Each of the three days offers a host of opportunities, but no one day is alike. Staff and faculty work together to create conference-like sessions for students like the Basics of Finance, Winterizing your Car, and First Aid for Dogs. There are also opportunities for social emotional learning, such as Mindfulness and Meditation. In addition, topics like Scholarships and Undecided about College are timely. Students experience something outside of their regular academic studies, as well as get to see their teachers in a more relatable light. 

Future Focus Days don’t lose the benefits of the traditional career fair that most of us grew up with and offer a variation. There is still the official Career Fair but also a Pathways Fair for colleges, universities, training programs, the military, and the union trades programs. Students also find out about stand-alone apprenticeship programs that are offered by area businesses. They also have the Student Job Fair, where the area employers showcase their employment opportunities. Students learn about both summer and permanent employment and can fill out applications right on the spot.

As if all of those activities weren’t enough, a portion of Future Focus Days also encompasses career speakers who come onto the campus to talk about their jobs in small group settings. Technology has enabled speakers to be anywhere in the world and speak to students at Pekin High about the good and bad that comes with their title. Students can also board buses and travel to area businesses and employers where they see what goes on in those settings. Last year, students traveled to places like Caterpillar, Maui Jim’s, and the American Red Cross among others. Finally, for those students who have a good idea of what they want to do for a career, Future Focus Days allow time for them to go out and job shadow for a few hours at an employer of their choice. This can be a deciding factor for students when it comes to choosing their pathway.  

When it started, one of the main objectives of this initiative was to create equity and accessibility for  every student at PCHS, no matter what. On a scale as large as it can get, Future Focus Days ensures that. It’s not about the connections that students already have, it’s about the connections that they can make. There is no way to know when a chance encounter can have a lasting impact on a student. PCHS is creating intentional opportunities for students to have those chance encounters and Future Focus Days are just one example of that. The mission statement rings true with, “The opportunity is here. The fire is within.” At PCHS, the opportunities most definitely are there and they are working to light those fires every day. 

PCHS hosted the first Future Focus Day of the 24-25 school year on Oct. 29th. If you’d like to support or get involved with Future Focus Days at PCHS, we’d love to have you. Remaining Future Focus Day dates for the 2024-25 school year are January 28th and April 29th. For more information, please contact Jennifer Anderson, College and Career Advisor at [email protected], 309-477-4344 or Joel Steger, Career and Community Liaison at [email protected], 309-477-4313.