K-5 Growing Career Awareness
November 2025
November Is National Career Development Month!
National Career Development Month is a month-long campaign that emphasizes the significance of career development and planning. It aims to educate and inspire individuals to explore career options, set goals, and make strategic decisions about their professional futures.
**District/Building Leaders and Grade Level Leads: Please share this valuable resource! By distributing this newsletter to your staff, you ensure they can leverage these great career awareness activities to support students and advance your K-12 career development goals. Thank you for facilitating this important work!
MCDM: Elementary Targets
Each month I will share information highlighting a specific target and connecting activities to the targets.
🎯 Target 3: Career Awareness
Engage students in introductory career exploration activities.
A career awareness activity for elementary students is a fun, foundational experience that opens their eyes to the vast world of work. These activities showcase diverse jobs, helping children understand that there are many different ways people contribute to their communities. They are designed to build the early knowledge and skills students need to start imagining how they might fit into the world of work in the future. -Ai Supported
Kickstart to Career Community Fall Deposit Day - November 13th!
Financial literacy is a vital piece of career development.
KickStart to Career Deposit Day for 1st-5th graders will be Thursday, November 13th. Information will be provided to share with students and families. Deposits can be collected and sent to the office for pickup. Also, you can share a link to the KickStart to Career Family Communication in your weekly family communication.
Any questions, please contact the coordinator at kwiersema@muskegonisd.org.
1st Grade Register NOW!
Kickstart to Career Financial Champion Field Trip:
Students will experience a behind the scenes tour of a financial institution.
- Students will get to make an actual deposit.
- Students will receive $! to deposit into their KTC account.
- Transportation costs covered by the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.
KickStart to Career Coordinator, Kari Wiersema, will be coordinating & scheduling the field trips.
- Register HERE!
2nd Grade Register NOW!
KickStart To Career Connection Project:
This activity helps students start building an awareness of careers, career zones & making connections between the world of work and classroom work through fun books.
- This can connect to ELA, Social, Studies or SEL standards.
- Upon completion students receive an incentive deposit into their KTC account.
3rd Grade REGISTRATION OPEN!
Mini Medical School:
Help your students learn more about careers in healthcare!
- Introduce students to professions in healthcare, and get them excited about health and wellness.
- Connect to Health Education, ELA, Technology Standards & SEL Indicators.
- Sign up for an in-person or Zoom healthcare professional classroom speaker.
- Students get a completion certificate and a fun "swag" bag for participating.
- Register HERE! Registration Ends December 17th!
*Careers in healthcare represent our largest employers in Muskegon and West Michigan and are the highest in demand across the state.
4th Grade NEW Lemonade Tycoon-Register NOW!!!
- Lemonade Tycoon Activity:
Students open and manage their very own virtual lemonade stand and learn manage a budget for the business. Banzai Lemonade Tycoon serves as an engaging introduction to the fundamental economic and financial principles that are integral to almost every career path, helping students develop a foundational understanding of how money works in a work-related context.
- This can connect to Michigan Standards for Financial Literacy
- Upon completion students receive an incentive deposit into their KTC account.
K- 5th Registration Open!
Help your students learn more about the world of agribusiness!
An opportunity to host a guest reader to engage your students in the world of agriculture. This annual program through W. Mi Works connects local farmers and food processors with your classroom, helping students learn more about agribusiness and its impact on their daily lives.
- Event takes place in March-sign ups are now!
- Registration is through W. Mi Works
- Space is limited!
- Registration ends December 19th or until all slots are filled.
- Activity Details
- Register HERE! - Make sure to register for Muskegon county.
4th & 5th Grade MCC STEM Lab Field Trips - Registration is OPEN!
- Come learn about STEAM in a fun and engaging way!
- Learn how to apply the engineering design process while building and programming robots, completing engineering challenges, exploring the Fab Lab, and so much more STEAM fun!
- There is a bus grant opportunity!
- Register HERE!
Xello Elementary is Growing in Muskegon County!
Check out: K-2nd Career Town and the 3rd-5th Xello experience.
If you interested about starting Xello Elementary in your classroom, building, or district; let's connect and I can share how districts are engaging in this work
- Schedule Meeting
- mkuck@muskegonisd.org
- 231-767-3626
Xello Student Profile Work
This fall, 5th-grade students at Reeths-Puffer Intermediate began engaging with Xello by completing their Student Profiles.
This foundational activity allows students to capture key details about themselves: they save interests, identify skills, rank school subjects, record achievements, save careers of interest, and set initial goals. The profile helps students immediately begin to recognize how their unique strengths and classroom work can naturally connect to the world of future careers.
Once students complete their profiles, teachers can further use Xello as a valuable tool for connecting classroom content to future professions through extension activities. For example, if you are studying a unit on climate, challenge students to research careers connected to meteorology, environmental science, or sustainability to reinforce the real-world application of their learning.
