I remember my sense of fun and excitement just last Friday as I prepared my
opening
statement to begin our discussion of careers. How our lives have been
altered these past few days. To a person - we are different and our lives
have been changed. We who participate in Edequity care about improving the
lives of youth, male and female; work to achieve fairness and provide equal
opportunities for all. This attack had caused us to realize the importance
of our national, local and personal daily acts.
My friends and I have drawn close together to discuss how we're struggling
to make sense of this which is beyond understanding. We're turning to our
family and friends to find balance or stability personally. We're seeking
ways to help others - give blood, make donations, volunteer where we can.
We reel with emotion, yet are striving to continue with our lives to
demonstrate in a small way that our American way of life WILL continue. I
feel more united with all Americans than I ever have before. I'm hearing
things said that I don't agree with, but I realize how important it is that
in America we do have the right to free speech. As a nation, we value
justice, so we're waiting to learn who is responsible before acting.
Reason
and justice warn us not to inflict acts of violence on individuals who
happen to be from the same country or culture as the terrorists. Hopefully
that is a lesson learned from mistakes.
We've just begun to see the ripple effects from this. One example: the
LPGA
tournament scheduled in Portland this week was cancelled. As a result, a
local shelter for children with handicapping conditions, many of whom have
been abused, will not have the expected $85,000 dollars normally raised by
the tournament to operate. We'll need to be aware of such needs and reach
into our hearts and pocketbooks to help.
To make one final comment related to our discussion of careers, I feel
obligated to share one more excellent tool for high school students. The
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Career Exploration
Program is available to use for FREE. The ASVAB is one of the most
thoroughly researched and effective inventories to measure students'
aptitudes. http://www.sad47.k12.me.us/asvab_test.htm As with most
guidance tools, there is concern about gender equity issues resulting from
men and women having historically been clustered into various occupational
areas. Work has been done to ensure equity in the ASVAB, as in the
Self-Directed Search (SDS) and other commonly used resources. The ASVAB
has
been less well used in Oregon than I personally think it should have been,
due to an underlying fear of the military and recruiting. ASVAB officials
clearly state that students are asked whether or not they want to be
contacted by a recruiter and those who say they don't want to be contacted
won't be. The military is a viable option for some students and they can
ask to be contacted when their test results arrive.
The largest school district in our state has banned military recruiters
from
high school career centers. The city's school board's rationale for doing
that was that they didn't agree with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Whether or not we personally agree with that policy, it has not seemed
reasonable to me that high school students are not provided occupational
information about military training, work and lifestyle. Our job as
counselors and career educators surely is to provide students with all
possible educational and occupational information.
My best wishes to each of you on this day of prayer and remembrance. May
God bless America.
June Tremain, Ed. D.
Career Development and Human Res. Specialist
Oregon Department of Education
Office of Professional Technical Education
Public Service Building
255 Capitol ST. NE
Salem, OR. 97310-0203
Phone (503) 378-3600 x2238 Fax (503) 378-5156
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