Career Exploration Part II: Career Cruising--Matchmaker, My Skills, and Learning Styles

This week, the students are completing the Matchmaker, My Skills, and Learning Styles inventory on Career Cruising (www.careercruising.com).  

The students are completing this so they know what things they like to do, pinpoint what they do and don't have an interest in, and jobs connected to those skills and interests.  There are 116 questions; the more questions the students answer, the more the jobs will match their personality.  The test is very easy and the students answer the questions based on this color scale rating system.  

After they have completed the questions, they will then assess their skills for these jobs.  The program will give them a letter grade for this job.  If they get a D or E grade, it doesn't mean that they can't do the job, but that they need to improve their skills in order to do the job well.  

Last but not least, the students take a learning style assessment where they determine in which mode they learn best.  The students received their results and learned what the words visual, tactile, and auditory meant.  

This was a great way for the students to find out who they are and it was really helpful for students who had no clue what careers matched their personalities.

Welcome to the Kent Transition Center!

Who Am I?

My name is Debra Rajaratne and I am the English Language Arts instructor at KTC.  I was born in Kingsley, MI, and am the second youngest of 5 girls.  I attended Kingsley High School, Northwestern Michigan College, and Grand Valley State University graduating with a bachelors degree in group social studies education and a minor in English.  I love to sing, travel, cook, and learn new languages.  I also have a masters degree in educational technology and I hope to achieve another masters degree in administration or a doctorate in educational technology.

What Do I Do?

I will be getting your student prepared for the world of work and independence through increasing vocabulary, writing for employment, and speech for employment.  We will be learning new vocabulary throughout the course of their classes, producing various types of writing, researching, and presenting our ideas and ourselves through speech and presentations.  We are currently working to get your student a 1/2 credit of English this year to aid them in the graduation process.

We also have a partnership with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS).  MRS works with people who have disabilities of any kind, to help them find and keep a job.  Also, after becoming established with MRS, if you ever lose a job, you can contact MRS and they will help you find another.  KTC and MRS have partnered to help your student have the possibility of getting a paid job during the summer of 2017.  This is a real job, with a real paycheck, and is not for a grade like our work-based learning (year 2) program at KTC.  This is a real job to help our students get a start on gaining experience and your student has a chance to be a part of this program by attending KTC.  We will let you know what requirements you/they must reach and being making calls home soon.

In Conclusion

I look forward to this year with your child and if you or your child have any question, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Rajaratne
a.k.a Mrs. R
(616) 301-8837
(616) 965-1836