Two Charleston County middle schools earn national award for career guidance
For the fourth year in a row, career guidance programs in South Carolina schools have been judged the nation’s best for elementary and middle level students. Two Charleston area schools – James Island Middle School and Ft. Johnson Middle School – are sharing 2006 recognition by The National Consortium for State Guidance Leadership.
The consortium selected both schools as winners for its annual “ABC’s of Career Awareness and Exploration Award.” Past winners include Newberry County, Spartanburg District One, Lexington District One and Orangeburg District Five.
“This is a wonderful honor for the James Island and Ft. Johnson communities,” said State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. “We’re proud that South Carolina career guidance continues to be remarkably successful in competition against other programs across our nation.”
The award is based on a guidance program’s standards-based accountability, curriculum integration, basic skills, career awareness and exploration, and system structure.
“The Trident area has been excelling in career guidance for years,” said Dr. Ray Davis, education associate at the State Department of Education. “James Island and Ft. Johnson provide their students with high quality guidance services. It’s good to see them recognized for their standards-based programming.”
Davis said the SDE’s Office of Career and Technology Education plans to congratulate both schools formally during the 2006-07 academic year.
Guidance counselors Erica Ciucci and Jodi Bateman were responsible for completing the ABC Award process, along with Joan Anderson, Charleston County School District’s career and technology coordinator.
“I’m so excited to have our middle school programs honored nationally,” Anderson said. “Our district has a goal to provide career exploration activities for all students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. They’re motivated to think about career choices, prepare for a competitive world, and begin the pathway for success in the workplace.”
James Island Middle School principal Phillip Davie said career guidance is “a tremendous asset and a vital part our school,” and Ft. Johnson Middle School principal David Parler said the program helped his sixth grade daughter “gain an appreciation of the importance of education and planning to develop her career goals.”