In partnership with PA Department of Labor & Industry, WPSU has curated free content for parents, students, and educators that align to state career readiness standards. Here are top resources to help parents, students, and educators explore various careers.
Explore the resources with these helpful guides: For Students | For Parents | For Educators
Apprenticeships help bridge skill gaps while bringing a lot of benefits such as earning paychecks while learning and learning alongside professionals. Fields include manufacturing, construction, electrical, health care, IT, culinary arts, and more.
Apprenticeships are innovative training programs that allow employers to develop and prepare their future workforce while providing individuals with a learn-while-you-earn approach to career development.
The Pennsylvania In-Demand Occupation List (PA IDOL) can help you identify careers that have the greatest demand across the commonwealth. “In-demand” jobs offer a large number of job openings or an above-average growth rate without already having an over-supply of existing workers. These occupations offer a qualified jobseeker a reasonable expectation of obtaining employment in the field.
The Pennsylvania Career Ready Skills (PA CRS) are social emotional learning progressions that support the development of student competence. By design, the PA CRS reflect priorities to ensure youth are career ready and prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century workforce. The PA CRS are grouped into three domains: Self-awareness and Self-management, Establishing and Maintaining Relationships, and Social Problem Solving.
This electronic toolkit provides resources, references, crosswalks and other tools to assist elementary, middle and high schools teachers and administrators in implementing the Pennsylvania (PA) Career Education and Work Standards. The Career Education and Work Standards address four areas of knowledge: Career Awareness and Preparation, Career Acquisition (Getting a Job), Career Retention and Advancement, and Entrepreneurship.
PA CareerLink® is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry’s initiative to transform the landscape of how job-seekers find family sustaining jobs and how employers find the skilled candidates that they need. Through this initiative, a user-friendly, premiere job-matching system has been created to help bridge the gap that currently exists between job-seekers and employers.
Learn more about each of Pennsylvania’s 12 industry clusters. An industry cluster consists of a group of industries that are closely linked by common product markets, labor pools, similar technologies, supplier chains, and/or other economic ties.
Student, parent, and teacher scavenger hunts for the WPSU Career Readiness website.
Pennsylvania Pathways is an educational video profile series featuring Pennsylvania Careers which seeks to improve employability by informing and inspiring students’ career choices. Using a documentary day-in-the-life approach, viewers will learn first-hand about education and training, apprenticeships, skills, job satisfaction and what it takes to succeed.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers take on a variety of directions. Learn about them from interviews with various professionals such as a construction project manager and an environmental lawyer.
Women In Science Profiles (WiSci Files) is an innovative project from WPSU Penn State aimed at inspiring young women to enter careers in the captivating fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The videos feature aspects of their personal and professional lives, aiming to dispel stereotypes about who STEM professionals are and what their lives are like.
WPSU Penn State offers undergraduate student internships year-round in various departments within the organization
To address the concerns of developing a properly skilled and prepared local workforce, WVIA is partnering with the 1994 Charles B. Degenstein Foundation to produce a multi-faceted media and related curriculum initiative called Careers that Work that will focus on educating and preparing students for well-paying jobs that fulfill the employment needs of growing industries throughout our region.
Pittsburgh’s workforce is changing. WQED wants to help students and job-seekers to discover new, promising career options when they start their job search, plus raise awareness about the workforce development that is already underway, helping the economy grow as workers find fulfilling careers and thrive in the Pittsburgh region.
WITF’s Careers That Work is an ongoing, evolving multimedia initiative highlighting workforce development in south central Pennsylvania. We’ll highlight career options you may not have considered. Some of these careers require higher education while others require real world experience. One thing they all require is passion.
Pennsylvania Makers features local artists showcasing their unique talent and creativity.
Explore our television and radio production studios and see how your favorite PBS shows make it to your television and other devices at home! Learn about the different jobs it takes to create and manage a tv/radio station.
Everyone has times in their life when they feel sad. Whether the sadness is caused by a short term setback or a long term change, adults and children alike need a way to find a little hope and joy when things seem bleak. Talk with your child about other things they can do to feel better. Make a list and then create a You’ll Feel Better Again Jar with your ideas.
Use this weekly planner to help your child prepare for the days ahead and keep track of weekly schedules.
Make these cute and easy dolls with your child as a way to teach about emotions. These dolls can be played with endlessly in many different ways! The ability to change the expressions on the faces will lead to imaginative play and lots of discussion about what might make your child feel sad/happy/angry/surprised.
Here’s an activity you can do at home to practice using words to name feelings. The goal of the game is for one person to make a face that shows a certain emotion. The other person guesses what the emotion is.
In each episode of “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum,” Xavier, Brad, and Yadina travel back in time to meet real-life historical figures when they were kids themselves. Just like the historical figures in the series, your child has heroic qualities! Help your child understand what it means to be a hero and that there is a hero in every one of us.
Make and keep this glitter jar on hand to help your child relax and calm down the next time things become overwhelming. Together with your child, think about other ways to calm down when upset. Some ideas include taking a walk, counting down from five or closing your eyes for a few minutes.
Helping kids tune into body language can help them build empathy skills and feel more in control of their own emotions. It’s one step to developing better self-management down the road. So how can we make all this emotional learning fun? Turn it into a game!
Children encounter countless unknowns and self-doubts as they grow, and developing a positive inner voice can give them the courage to explore new situations and persevere. In this activity, you and your child can celebrate their traits and abilities and express that they are valued.
Self-control is an important skill for children to develop so they can do things like not hit when they feel angry or learn to stop playing when they have to go to the bathroom. Here’s a jazzy way to help your child practice self-control by combining music with this “freeze” game.
Use a puppet or stuffed animal to help children talk about how to deal with those moments. Have the puppet explain that something very embarrassing happened in school (for example, he fell in a mud puddle) and everyone laughed. Now he doesn’t want to play with the other kids because he thinks they will make fun of him. In your own voice, encourage children to talk to the puppet and help him feel better. Have the puppet ask: “What should you do about classmates who tease you?”
It’s natural to feel fear, but sometimes fear can get in the way of enjoying new experiences or meeting new people. Show your child that one way to feel less afraid of something is to learn more about it.
While we typically think about following specific recipes when we cook or bake, making food is an art as much as it is a science! Use this activity to get your child thinking about how food is prepared and how fun it can be.
Share a special family tradition with your child and talk about how your tradition honors your heritage and history. Then, help your child share your tradition with a friend!
Families come in all shapes and sizes. Use this activity with a group of children (like an organized playgroup) to celebrate differences.
What qualities make a good friend? PBS KIDS asked real families to share what makes a good friend, what to do when someone is being a bully, and how to be a friend to others.
Peg and Cat sing a song about how they can count on each other for help. Are there friends or family in your life that you can count on?
Explore the problems and tensions created by misunderstandings and the inability to listen to diverse points of view in this video from the PBS KIDS series ARTHUR. When best friends Arthur and Buster disagree about what happened while they were playing a game, they begin a “feud” that spreads among their friends. Fueled by gossip, the characters split into warring “teams.” Eventually, the friends resolve their differences and come together to build the best snow fort ever.
This video features two young boys as they find different ways of playing together. They each find different toys and sometimes even work on different activities, but they find a way to play together.
Yadina and Brad are ready to start their best friends tea party when they notice another girl nearby is all alone. Should they invite her to join them? How can they have a best friends tea party with someone they don’t know? With a little help from Berby, we revisit Confucius who helped us understand about compassion, that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. Confucius helps Yadina show compassion to make the girl’s day extra special.
Daily encouragements help kids learn to support themselves when the going gets tough, as well as start the day off right! Your child can pull a card from their jar every morning or whenever she needs a boost.
We all learn to control anger, stand up for ourselves and resolve conflict through practice. Imaginary play is a fun and safe way to help children prepare for difficult moments, such as what to do when conflict arises at daycare, at school or with siblings. Let your child know that sometimes we do things that upset others or make them mad — and sometimes we get upset or mad, too. When that happens, we can start to solve the problem by using our words to say we’re sorry or explain why we’re upset. Let’s practice!
Watch the video together. Then play, “1, 2, 3, hug it out.” Go to opposite ends of the room. Take three deep breaths and then run to each other and give each other a big hug. Try this game when children are having any big emotions, whether they’re good feelings or not-so-good ones. (If the emotion is really big, just go straight for the hug!). Let children know that they can still “hug it out” even if you’re not around: giving a favorite stuffed animal (or a pillow!) a big squeeze can help children find comfort on their own.
Explore the problems and tensions created by misunderstandings and the inability to listen to diverse points of view in this video from the PBS KIDS series ARTHUR. When best friends Arthur and Buster disagree about what happened while they were playing a game, they begin a “feud” that spreads among their friends. Fueled by gossip, the characters split into warring “teams.” Eventually, the friends resolve their differences and come together to build the best snow fort ever.
Marnicka, Precious, and Francheska have been playing Double Dutch jump rope for years. But they disagree on how they know when to jump. Francheska says she listens to the beat of the rope. Prescious says she looks for the rope. Marnicka says she does both. When they get their friends together to test it out, they get some interesting results. Spanish video version and bilingual activities are available under support materials.
This video features two young boys as they find different ways of playing together. They each find different toys and sometimes even work on different activities, but they find a way to play together.
Track plant growth in this plant journal based on the PBS KIDS show Elinor Wonders Why! Assemble the printable plant journal, use the instructions to grow a plant, and record the changes you see each day. Then, unfold the journal to see the plant’s growth over time.
Space is a fascinating and sometimes confusing topic for kids. Ready Jet Go! helps take the complexity of space and explain it in language kids can understand. If you want to take their curiosity further, here are a few simple ways parents and kids can explore the wonders of astronomy together.
You don’t have to travel to Africa to experience the excitement of going on safari. Help your child practice their observation skills at home with this twist on the game of hide and seek.
While we typically think about following specific recipes when we cook or bake, making food is an art as much as it is a science! Use this activity to get your child thinking about how food is prepared and how fun it can be.
A melody about different types of jobs, like farmer and teacher. This resource introduces the concept of work and some of the jobs people can do to earn money.
As parents and caregivers, we don’t need special training in science or engineering to help our child develop inquiry skills. Young kids love to experiment, explore, and figure out how the world works – and that is the heart of thinking like a scientist!
Children are naturally curious, and their curiosity about the weather outside is no exception. Use these five tips from Cyberchase to take measurements, make observations, and engage your child in some fun, math-based weather-watching!
You don’t have to travel to Africa to experience the excitement of going on safari. Help your child practice their observation skills at home with this twist on the game of hide and seek.
A glacier is a big mass of ice and snow. Glaciers can grow and shrink, and they can even “flow” like slow-moving rivers. In this activity, you and your child will investigate how melting glaciers can cause the sea level to rise and change the Earth’s landscape.
Encourage children to observe nature and become aware of the animals that live all around us.
Elinor always wonders why — why do birds sing, why do ants march, and why do butterflies fly? She asks questions, observes nature and discovers new things every day with her friends. Encourage your child to wonder by creating a nature bingo game to take outside to practice observing and exploring together.
Keep track of all the healthy snacks you eat. Draw a picture of the foods under each day of the week.
Learn about the basics of botany and plant growth by growing an herb garden with your child.
Abby Brown loves to help kids have fun while learning! In this segment, Abby teaches kids how tools can help with a variety of jobs, and that it’s important to have the right tool for the job!
Use this weekly planner to help your child prepare for the days ahead and keep track of weekly schedules.
Self-control is an important skill for children to develop so they can do things like not hit when they feel angry or learn to stop playing when they have to go to the bathroom. Here’s a jazzy way to help your child practice self-control by combining music with this “freeze” game.
Peg and Cat sing a song about how they can count on each other for help. Are there friends or family in your life that you can count on?
Resilience and Leadership are important concepts for all ages. Ruby helps restore a broken friendship, as Lamar helps a journalist become a great reporter and leader!
This video features two young boys as they find different ways of playing together. They each find different toys and sometimes even work on different activities, but they find a way to play together.
In this video segment from TV411, Ruby’s mother is unhappy with Ruby’s grades at school. Ruby claims that she is very busy and has many different activities, so she doesn’t have much time for her homework. To help make sure she has more time for studying, Ruby and her mother work together to create a weekly schedule.
Learn about the qualities and characteristics of an entrepreneur as explained by some of Georgia’s most innovative and successful companies, including Aflac, Georgia-Pacific, Home Depot, Delta Airlines, and Coca-Cola.
Carrie Frost was a fly fishing entrepreneur who paved the way for other female business owners in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Despite the fact that women could not vote and in many cases could not own property, Carrie Frost created a successful manufacturing company, and she gave over 150 Stevens Point women a chance to earn their own wages in a time when they were not often able to do so.
Meet Jada Cooper-Taylor, an Industrial Engineer and Operations Manager for Target. She is also a beauty entrepreneur with her own makeup line for Adaj Beauty.
Students will learn about the inventions and path to success of Thomas Edison by watching a short biographical video, analyzing a photograph of Edison and one of his most famous inventions, and reading a letter written by Edison to a Minnesota high school student. The lesson concludes with students assessing and updating one of Edison’s many inventions.
Meet Alvin Wilkerson, a Mechanical Engineer at Inteva Products and a maker space entrepreneur, who designs car interiors and other automotive parts.
Learn about high tech careers that give you the satisfaction of saying, “I did that” at the end of the day. The manufacturing industry constructs all the parts necessary to build things like engines, boats, and tools. Individuals in this industry are skilled in operating high tech machinery used to produce all of these things and much more. If you like working with technology and doing something where there is a physical product at the end of the day, then maybe the manufacturing industry is for you!
Are you intellectually curious and eager to improve the world around you? If so, you might enjoy a career as a mechatronics engineer—a combination of electrical and mechanical engineering. Discover how mechatornics engineer Leila Madrone is engineering a better world at Otherlab, where she leads an engineering team that is dedicated to improving large solar power fields. She changes the size and composition or heliostats to make low-cost and energy-efficient solar systems. Before joining Otherlab, Madrone graduated from MIT with two degrees in electrical engineering and worked at NASA, where she created a device for taking high-resolution panoramic images.
Rachel turned her passion for art, engineering and the outdoors into a dream job designing bikes that she loves to ride. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Caroline channels her creativity and all the facets of her personality into making tech applications to give people meaningful experiences. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Alma Stephanie is a Metallurgical and Materials Engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Orietta is an industrial engineer, currently working in the tech industry. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Laura is an electrical engineer who works on things people use everyday. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Natalia is a software engineer who designs data visualizations people can understand and learn from. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Antoinette builds web apps and communities that enable people to create their own technologies. She also empowers more African Americans to enter and thrive in the digital economy.
Dr. Van Romero is Vice President, Professor of Physics at New Mexico Tech. He answers the question “Why did you become a scientist?”
Learn more about how to find a career – or volunteer job! – in the vastly varied field of wildlife, as we highlight a wide range of backgrounds and education paths that can lead people to working with wildlife. This episode features several different people working with or for wildlife, highlighting a collection of stories from their daily lives.
Agricultural engineers explain their work and how they use biology and engineering to make farms energy-efficient and our food supply safe and plentiful. They describe what drew them to agricultural engineering and their education and career paths.
In this video from PBS Wisconsin Education, learn about Kyle Niedfeldt Zenz, a fourth generation farmer in Bangor, WI, who is the farm manager at Old Oak Family Farm. Watch as she describes the diverse crops and animals raised on the farm and the challenges they face from climate change, including pests and disease.
Do you know how many people are employed by the U.S. cheese industry? Also, do you know how to become a food scientist? Find out in this episode of Cheese Cubed!
Nestled in the hills of Central Pennsylvania, Mt. Nittany Winery has been making wine for over 25 years. Explore the vineyards and winery with vintner Scott Hilliker and experience the passion that goes into every bottle.
Melissa and Catie create objects that are as delicious as they are beautiful. Experience the imagination and talent they bring to every creation from M&C Cakery.
Meet a young woman whose involved with making some of the best ice cream in the country. Also, a scientist who is uncovering history using ancient DNA. And learn about the story, behind the story, of NASA’s hidden figures.
A doctor of equine medicine is a horse veterinarian. We visit Allegheny Equine in Murrysville, Pennsylvania and talk with the veterinarians who describe their jobs, give career advice, and explain how equine care differs from the work of small animal vets.
Mark Norell, the Chairman of the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, discusses the field of paleontology in this clip from SciTech Now. Norell describes how the field of paleontology has changed over time and how dinosaurs are studied today.
Some treatments for diseases involve working on parts of the human body that are smaller than a tenth of the width of a piece of human hair. Tejal Desai, a bioengineering professor, works with these small parts using nanotechnology. She became interested in bioengineering as a freshman in high school because “engineering could have direct health applications and help people,” and now she is developing a tiny capsule that contains pancreatic cells that produce insulin as a potential treatment for diabetes.
Why do we look the way that we do? Ryan Hernandez, an assistant professor at UC San Francisco, works in the department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences to study why humans from different populations have different genetic backgrounds. When he was young, his grandmother developed diabetes, and he dedicated his entire undergraduate career, and later, his postdoc years to finding out which populations were more susceptible to certain conditions and why.
Biotechnology helps scientists understand many aspects of the world around us, from agriculture to medicine. Learn how post-doctoral fellow Eva LaDow uses cutting-edge biotechnological techniques in her work at the Gladstone Institutes of Neurological Disease. She grows neurons, introduces mutant DNA into the neurons, and then analyzes the data to see whether any drugs already approved by the FDA may also be used to treat ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
What is the most efficient way to get energy when our current supply of energy is rapidly dwindling? Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, a microbiologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, may have the answer to that. She leads a research team that investigates the most effective ways to use microbes to convert plants into biofuels through studying the stress response in bacteria. Her work requires her to use every skill she has acquired through her years of education. She has a background in chemistry, physics, and physiology.
DeWilde chose her career because of her strong traditional belief in respecting animals and caring for the environment. Her work today involves helping local villagers record observations that can be used collaboratively with Western science to help solve problems that affect Alaska Native peoples, including climate change and water contamination.
An astrobiologist and a physicist explain how mathematics is universally critical to helping understand nature and the cosmos in this video from KAET. In the accompanying classroom activity, students discuss the mathematics in the video, including the use of algebra, and then practice writing, reading, and evaluating algebraic expressions in a class bingo game.
Victoria followed her heart to a career that focuses her love of hands-on problem solving into engineering medical technologies that save lives. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Bridgette’s formula for success is using her love of chemistry to develop groundbreaking products at work and create natural remedies for her family at home. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Amelia is a microscopist in Puerto Rico researching plant development and diversity. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Isabel is an environmental archaeologist who enjoys working in science, discovering things, and creating knowledge. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
See how scientists at Penn State produce and plan an award winning show that educates an audience and develops future standouts in the world of meteorology; Epidemiologists in North Carolina track the evolution and geographic spread of Zika; Science Friday shares insights about the mysterious octopus; and much more!
Watch our interview with Zena Cardman, a Penn State grad student in microbiology, who was selected to NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts! Also, learn about women who do coding, and the regenerative powers of the hydra.
Meet a woman with a hacker mentality who wants more people to learn the international language of math. Also, a Penn State professor/entrepreneur with a vision of a wireless world using both science and art. See why a good work-life balance is the path to nurturing a healthy mind. Hear from a scientist who’s an advocate of including more indigenous and minority populations in human gene studies.
Meet Harriett Gaston. This Altoona neighbor collects Black history in Blair County, including the story of an Underground Railroad conductor who was the county’s first civil rights leader.
Listen to a master craftsman explain many of the ways that mathematics is used in woodworking, including number operations; geometry; ratios and proportions; and measurement, in this video from KAET.
Working in the construction industry, Cynthia has built a satisfying career and a lasting legacy. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Meet Samuel Weatherwax, an insulation and coatings technician for The Geysers, the largest geothermal power project in the world. Weatherwax joined the team at The Geysers four years ago as an apprentice after working at Bottle Rock Power Plant after high school. He loves spending most of the workday outside, where he paints, pressure washes, sandblasts, and repairs the many power plants in the Calpine complex.
Brennetta has dreamed of becoming an architect since childhood and has designed her own blueprint for working towards her career goals. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Meet Denise, or “Seven” as her friends call her, a welder, artist and instructor who forged her own path as a woman in the trades. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Learn about the engineers, architects and construction professionals taking part in a unique competition in State College called Canstruction. Also, a way to track a football with electromagnetic waves. And the mysteries of squid ink.
Pallavi has fought through challenges to write her own code for successful work-life balance. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Watch network engineer Diana Tootle explain how she uses math in her work in this video from KAET. In the accompanying classroom activity, students watch the video and then complete an activity involving an aspect of math that Ms. Tootle discusses: converting numbers between base 2 and base 10. To get the most from the lesson, students should have some experience writing and evaluating numerical expressions involving whole-number exponents, using exponents to denote place values (e.g, 101, 100), and writing numbers using expanded notation.
Emmaly makes no secret of her enthusiasm for using technology to express herself and empower others. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Mark Caylao, Head Engineer for Airship Management Services in North Carolina, maintains and operates some of the world’s largest blimps for everyone from presidential candidates to the military. Learn more in this video from Design Squad Nation.
Watch our interview with Zena Cardman, a Penn State grad student in microbiology, who was selected to NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts! Also, learn about women who do coding, and the regenerative powers of the hydra.
Learn about the engineers, architects and construction professionals taking part in a unique competition in State College called Canstruction. Also, a way to track a football with electromagnetic waves. And the mysteries of squid ink.
Meet your neighbor, Michael Davis, a photographer based in State College. Find out how about he discovered his passion for photography and storytelling, from nature to weddings.
Meet Dustin Madden, an Iñupiaq and assistant science teacher in the Anchorage, Alaska, school district, in this video profile produced WGBH. Madden explains the importance of developing a strong background in science and math in order to help preserve and protect the environment.
Andrea, a native of Colombia, is an innovative leader and educator at The Young Woman’s Leadership School of Astoria in Queens, New York City. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Violeta García uses engaging STEM learning experiences to advance diverse students. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
In this episode of SciTech Now, we visit JEFFTech Vocational-Technical School. Learn about what this school is doing to keep up with industry trends. Also, see an innovative wheelchair with extraordinary mobility. And discover art and science of brewing beer.
Meet a woman with a hacker mentality who wants more people to learn the international language of math. Also, a Penn State professor/entrepreneur with a vision of a wireless world using both science and art. See why a good work-life balance is the path to nurturing a healthy mind. Hear from a scientist who’s an advocate of including more indigenous and minority populations in human gene studies.
Have you ever wondered how important people get to where they are? NASA’s deputy director, Dava Newman, shares her path in this segment brought to you by STEM in 30.
Astronaut Kate Rubins talks about what jobs she had when she was younger and tells middle schoolers to focus on the subjects and projects that they find interesting.
As our need for more sustainable and long-term energy sources increases, so do our need for the engineers that make them accessible. Damon Vander Lind is a kite designer for Makani Power, a wind power generation company owned by Google. He worked there as an intern after he graduated from MIT and loved his work so much that he stayed. He now leads a team that builds high-altitude kites that generate and collect more energy than conventional wind turbines.
In his role as a conservationist, MacLean works to preserve biodiversity in the Bering Sea, a unique marine environment being threatened by climate change. Brought up in the Alaska Native ways of knowing, he explains that Alaskan cultures are intimately connected with nature and suggests that people should not be separated from natural systems when considering solutions to environmental issues.
Join Camille as she learns the secrets to dressing well for the workplace in this video from the Career Hacks collection. Camille explores appropriate—and not-so-appropriate—attire for situations like a job interview. She also shares expert advice on how to dress for work without sacrificing one’s personality and how to build a winning workplace wardrobe on a budget.
WHYY Education provides career exposure to students through paid summer work experiences. These resources will provide students with the resources they need in order to begin their pathway to a meaningful career in the media industry.
Managers and employees in fields like healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing explain why it’s important to make a good first impression at a job interview and give some tips for preparing for one.
Many hiring managers are looking for someone who is willing to learn new skills and be adaptable, and learning on the job can benefit employees throughout their careers.
Learn why the first impression you make is a big part of whether people take you seriously in the workplace in this video from the Career Hacks collection. People are constantly forming impressions of others—sometimes without even knowing it. Camille and her expert guests offer advice on how to control the impression you make—both in person and online—which could make a big difference in your next meeting or job interview.
Make a great impression at your next job interview with this lesson from KET’s Workplace Essential Skills series. This self-paced lesson includes videos from a professional career counselor, interactive practice opportunities to get you thinking about your strategy, and more activities you can try at home on your own.
Employees, employers, and a workforce trainer describe how asking questions on the job can help you improve and impress employers by demonstrating your willingness to learn.
Searching for a new job? Learn effective strategies for finding job opportunities, going through the application process, and interviewing with this lesson from KET’s Workplace Essential Skills series. This self-paced lesson includes advice from professionals who hire people like you and strategies for success. As part of the lesson, you will have the opportunity to review sample application materials and take notes to create, save and/or print your own.
Learn from various STEM professions about their careers and the work that they do.
Watch this peer-to-peer video series designed to lead first-time career seekers on a personal discovery of job possibilities. Smart tips and important considerations about life skills, job markets, workplace culture, and the gig economy can help pave the way to successful, rewarding futures.
A customer service representative explains how the language you use in an email to customers may be different from the language you use in messages to coworkers or friends.
Problem solving is a key aspect of many kinds of jobs. Employees and managers in several industries give examples of problem solving in the workplace.
Do you have what it takes to succeed in business? Are you ready to put your brilliant ideas and management skills to the test? Welcome to Start It Up, where you get to launch and run your own fictional venture—and see how well you would fare in the stressful and exciting world of entrepreneurship.
Learn about the qualities and characteristics of an entrepreneur as explained by some of Georgia’s most innovative and successful companies, including Aflac, Georgia-Pacific, Home Depot, Delta Airlines, and Coca-Cola.
Knowing how to communicate in a positive, professional, and constructive way is one of the most important job skills you can develop. Employers value people who work well as part of a team and who can talk respectfully to customers and clients, especially when problems and complaints arise. In this interactive lesson, students will learn the importance of interpersonal communication skills, listening skills, and making a good impression.
In this interactive lesson, learners raise their awareness of the importance of nonverbal communication skills in the workplace, no matter their chosen career field. Learners focus on three aspects of nonverbal communication and the influence these have on how people are perceived in interviews and on the job.
Employees describe the importance of treating coworkers with respect and working well with people of diverse backgrounds and ages.
A workplace trainer and employees in the healthcare and transportation industries explain how being on time in a work environment is important for productivity and safety.
Employees and managers in various industries explain why good time management skills make your work easier, safer, and more productive.
A manager and an employee explain the importance of communication and seeing issues from another person’s perspective in order to quickly and effectively resolve conflicts in the workplace.
Discover why the crucial factor that can determine whether your next workplace interaction goes well isn’t what you say, but how you listen, in this video from the Career Hacks collection. Host Camille talks with two professionals and learns what not to do in her next interview. She also learns simple things she can do to show respect to anyone she talks with and truly hear what they’re saying.
Learn how a mirror can fool the brain into thinking a disabled limb is functioning normally in this video from SciTech Now. Mirror therapy is an accessible way for patients who have limb pain, or limited motor function in their limbs, to ease the pain and gain the function back, sometimes quite quickly. Seeing the image of the limb in the mirror tricks the brain into thinking the real limb is actually moving, often helping the real limb to eventually move.
Pharmacists must accurately measure and package medicine, ensuring that its dosage is safely administered to a patient. In the accompanying activity, students calculate prescribed dosages of medicine and the amounts of medicine needed according to different factors, including patient weight and time.
In this video, learn how mathematics—specifically, proportion, ratio, rate, and conversions—are used in the professional responsibilities of a registered nurse working on the surgical trauma floor. In the accompanying classroom activity, students take on the role of nursing teams, measuring vital signs, analyzing ratios, and calculating metric conversions.
Kate’s commitment to caring for hospital patients sparked a career change to firefighting. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Rebeccah was the Medical Director for Team USA athletes at the Rio Olympics. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Becca is a medicinal chemist who works on creating treatments for serious illnesses. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
As a family therapist who frequently works with Latinx families, Marlene addresses prevalent misconceptions about mental health. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
As a psychology professor, Raquel studies the brain to better understand why we make the decisions we do. She also addresses the importance of cognitive behavioral therapy, a practice that helps people reframe how they think and allows the brain to create new patterns and connections.
As a nurse, Erica helps patients manage chronic pain by teaching them strategies to retrain the way their brain senses pain, and empowers patients to create good self-care habits.
Learn how game developers are shaping the future of video games in this video from SciTech Now. The Game Innovation Lab at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering is dedicated to exploring new ideas in video games. Students and faculty there blend computer science, art, math, education, and design to create innovative games.
Watch and listen as the assistant general manager of a major league baseball team explains how he uses math in this video from KAET, Arizona PBS.
Aubrey’s experience as a trans woman of color fuels her passion for making games that allow everyone to see themselves represented. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Ben Ahlgrim has always been a creator. Today he channels his creative spirit into molding vessels with fire and imagination.
Heath and Hillary Bender bring life back to trees. Experience the passion and energy of their family and see the wonderful things they create at Cedar Mountain Designs.
See how scientists at Penn State produce and plan an award winning show that educates an audience and develops future standouts in the world of meteorology; Epidemiologists in North Carolina track the evolution and geographic spread of Zika; Science Friday shares insights about the mysterious octopus; and much more!
In 2019, Claire Lorts decided to leave her job managing a plant biology lab at Penn State — a job she loved — to pursue her other passion: art. She now works from her studio in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania creating wooden earrings and is beginning to experiment with metalsmithing.
Lynn Anne Verbeck, a ceramic artist based in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, opens up about her passion for teaching art and her belief that we are all creative beings. After studying film at Penn State, Verbeck turned to sculpture as a way to express her feelings and make art for people to use.
In a new “I’m Your Neighbor,” Meet Danny Stainton, a local potter here in central Pennsylvania. Find out about some of the techniques he uses in his work and what’s drawn him to his art.
Explore our television and radio production studios and see how your favorite PBS shows make it to your television and other devices at home! Learn about the different jobs it takes to create and manage a tv/radio station.
Jonette grew up far from city streets, but she’s driven to improve the way that urban transportation flows. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Rachel merges her life-long love of flying with airport inspections, which allows her to take aviation safety to new heights. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
Dr. Omayra is a data analyst doing research to improve health outcomes. This video is part of the series SciGirls Profiles: Women in STEM, which includes 12 role model videos of women who are passionate about their STEM work, hobbies, families and making the world a better place.
In this series of videos, professionals in the finance industry disscuss how they got their jobs, why they love working in this field, what their day to day tasks look like, and the college and career experiences that led to them to their field.
Listen to a master craftsman explain many of the ways that mathematics is used in woodworking, including number operations; geometry; ratios and proportions; and measurement, in this video from KAET.
Artist Stephanie Potter demonstrates how she creates relief prints, starting with an idea, then cutting an image into the wood or linoleum she has prepared, and, finally, printing the surface. Her subject matter comes from everyday life, she says, as she shows numerous examples of her prints.
Women In Science Profiles (WiSci Files) is an innovative project from WPSU Penn State aimed at inspiring young women to enter careers in the captivating fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The videos feature aspects of their personal and professional lives, aiming to dispel stereotypes about who STEM professionals are and what their lives are like.
Career Spotlight includes videos focusing on science careers in biotechnology and renewable energy.
In this media-rich lesson, students explore careers in science through profiles of Alaska Native scientists. They consider how traditional ways of knowing and Western approaches to science can complement each other and allow students to incorporate their own interests when considering careers in science.
There’s a cool career for every kid! Explore career options from A to Z with the Lab Squad kids as they meet and interview career professionals. The kids share lots of career ideas in every episode so be sure to watch them all, A to Z! If a kid can see it, they can be it!
Kids Work! is a virtual community of workplaces designed to give students an interactive job exploration experience that connects school work to real work. View profiles from real professionals.
Engineering Your Future shares real stories from young professionals who want to inform and inspire students about in-demand engineering careers.
In a world where we have calculators and search engines, why is math still a necessary skill to have in many career paths? From fashion design to astrobiology, math is the backbone of those jobs, and this collection will show you exactly why. Being able to do math means being able to win a fencing match or saving someone’s life!
SciGirls has the bold goal of changing how millions of girls think about science, technology, engineering and math—or STEM. Each half-hour episode highlights the processes of science and engineering, following a different group of middle school girls who design, with the help of scientist mentors, their own inquiry-based investigations on a variety of topics.
Delve into the study of plate tectonics and journey to the outer edges of the universe with lessons and learnings in Earth and Space Science.
In Careers in Engineering & Technology, students will take an up close look at the plethora of engineering and technology occupations. Discover how jobs ranging from a paramedic, a firefighter, and a roller coaster designer all have a background in engineering and technology.
Learn about workplace skills such as verbal and nonverbal communication and interviewing. Learn about careers with robotics, advanced technology, and media.
Wondering what to do with your life? We’ve been there, and we’re here to help. No matter where you’re at on your career journey, our tools and resources will help you find your way forward.
Success in one’s career depends on much more than just earning good grades in school. Help increase learners’ workforce readiness by building strengths in key interpersonal skills, such as problem solving, leadership, communication, teamwork and collaboration, and critical thinking, using this collection of resources produced by WGBH. The resources can be used to engage learners with media and prompt rich discussion in the classroom and other educational settings.
Check out these interviews with individuals in science, technology, and engineering careers.
Young professionals tell us about their jobs and take us behind the scenes to show us what they do every day. Learn about Ohio’s in-demand jobs, and what it takes to get there. Career Connections is a powerful career resource for any student!
Career Explore Northwest is a community tool designed to guide youth and adult learners, through job spotlight videos and job/industry data information, toward a successful job or career. Under each industry cluster you will find a collection of videos that highlight different types of jobs that are available in the Spokane/North Idaho region. Career Explore Northwest is a project of KSPS Public Television, in partnership with the Spokane Workforce Council. May your journey begin!
Watch this peer-to-peer video series designed to lead first-time career seekers on a personal discovery of job possibilities. Smart tips and important considerations about life skills, job markets, workplace culture, and the gig economy can help pave the way to successful, rewarding futures.
Careers in Demand is ideal for high school students trying to determine which career pathway is right for them. The collection provides a snapshot of what a career in one of Kentucky’s high-demand industries might look like, including education and experience needed to get these jobs, salary ranges, work environment, and the projected number of job openings over a five-year period.
SciGirls has the bold goal of changing how millions of girls think about science, technology, engineering and math—or STEM. The shows’ female mentors offer girls a glimpse of exciting STEM career possibilities.
I Can Be What?! is an engaging career exploration series that gives kids a sneak peek into the world of careers. Hosted by science communicator and electrical engineer Jennifer Indovina, each episode explores a unique job, highlighting what makes it fun, as well as the responsibilities, skills, and education needed. The main goal of I Can Be What?! is to provide an entryway into career exploration for elementary-aged students. The series is also available on YouTube.
Careers that Work introduces your students to the real-life application of skills found in the workplace and provides an understanding of career opportunities and their requisite pathways for empowered employment. Our nation’s aging workforce will soon be leaving the employment pool, creating a need for new employees to fill the coming vacancies. This, along with expanded automation and a rapidly evolving economy requiring skilled and adaptable employees, indicates an urgent need to address the specific requirements of key and growing industries.
The video series What Can You Become? explores the worlds of different professionals, highlighting their careers in ways that are relatable to children. The series does an excellent job of showing professionals from diverse races and genders, giving children a chance to see themselves represented. Every episode features a child interviewer who helps to show how embracing different strengths, skills, and talents can connect with different careers.
“Jamming on the Job” is a multi-generational, music-inspired podcast for kids ages 4-8 and their parents and caregivers, starring Christina Sanabria and Andrés Salguero, the Latin Grammy Award-winning kids’ music duo known as 123 Andrés. Join Christina and Andrés as they tour the country and perform songs about the world of work. Each place they go, they meet a grown-up with a different kind of job who helps them along their way. As Christina and Andrés learn about the new and inspiring career-of-the-day and the skills needed to be successful in that job, they compose an original song about it with help from their Magic Beatmaster Boombox, voiced by Grammy Award-nominated musician, Pierce Freelon.
By Madeline Miller
“Clearfield County Career and Technology Center offers programs for high schoolers and adults. The high schoolers transfer from a local school to finish their last two years at the Center. One of those transfers is Jaron Dotts, a high school student studying HVAC.”
By Alexandra Starr
“There isn’t much federal aid for students who want to learn skilled trades, but some states and community colleges now offer free courses. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Oct. 14, 2022.)”
