Q & A with Lisa Murphy, Postsecondary Career Advising Specialist
Prioritizing a college readiness curriculum ensures students feel both prepared for college and academically eligible to attend. College readiness is the skills, behaviors, and knowledge a high school student should have before enrollment in their first year of college.
But if a student does not intend to attend college, a whole new set of skills becomes essential; that’s where career readiness comes into play. City Schools' counselors and teachers play a key role in helping students achieve academic success in college, career, and beyond.
As a Postsecondary Career Advising Specialist, Lisa Murphy understands how this knowledge can increase students’ lifetime earning potential and overall preparation for life. Her office works to support student growth by exposing them to a variety of career choices. Forest Park High School hosted its Annual Career Awareness Fair on November 16 as part of this ongoing initiative. Read more about Lisa’s preparations and how momentous events like these are for our upcoming graduates.
- Lisa – How did you get into career advising?
- My passion for career advising developed under the guidance of the late Elijah E. Cummings as his legislative assistant. I volunteered on Saturdays, helping ex-offenders find gainful employment. After teaching special and general K-8 education for 23 years, I wondered what became of these students and their future. So, when Principal Mouzone came to me with a like-minded vision and offered the Job of career advising, I jumped at the opportunity.
- What are your day-to-day job duties?
- My daily responsibilities include being present in the classrooms to help students think about and develop post-secondary plans, host resume and college essay writing seminars, and aggressively seek out and establish partnerships with a vast number of agencies, companies, and community organizations to solicit career opportunities, shadowing, internships or apprenticeships.
- What is the most rewarding part about the work you do?
- Helping students realize their personal goals and work proactively to ensure they are economically, socially, and emotionally secure and successful.
- What vendors participated this year, and how many students attended?
- Several local community and state government agencies, such as the Fire, Police, and Transportation Department, federal agencies, including all military branches, and many private agencies that we applaud for their willingness to attend and provide guidance, information, and qualification rubrics for students. Our partners ranged from public safety and certification programs (HVAC and CDL) to health care and childcare service programs and theatre and music production.
- Over 928 students navigated through the fair using a floor guide containing the names of the vendors and the types of careers offered, so that they could move with intent and remain focused throughout their designated time.
- Why is it essential for local businesses to engage with students in this way?
- Our goal at Forest Park is to pre-expose all students to as many careers and/or college choices as possible so that they can make a more authentic and efficient post-secondary plan upon graduating from high school. Quincy Jones, a senior here at Forest Park, remarked, “Local businesses need to provide support because they are in the position to give us jobs and show us how to start our businesses. I want to be a mechanic. I would love to be able to leave school and work at a local auto repair shop close by.”
- What is next for your office?
- Now that the fair is over, the real work begins. We will now focus on establishing even more partnerships, increasing the number of students touring colleges, and participating in internships, apprenticeships, and shadow opportunities. We will continue to ensure that every student at Forest Park has a Postsecondary plan and an explicit pathway to reach their goals.
