One of the most consequential decisions a young person can make as they prepare to graduate from high school is in regard to their path forward. There are many options – college, trade school, military service, gap year, employment – and guidance is limited. How do they decide? By providing real-world insights into career options, the Rotary Club Career Exploration Committee (CEC) is endeavoring to fill this gap. By partnering with the Bainbridge Island School District, we hope that our programs will form solid foundations that continue for years to come.
The idea for CEC started in 2015, when a Bainbridge High School senior participated in the Career in Construction Program through the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) Committee and with inspiration from Tad Fairbank. For 13 weeks, she spent two hours per week at Fairbank Construction Company which, at the time, was working on a major construction project in Lynwood. Each week, a different company employee introduced her to a different career embedded in the company’s work force both in the office and at the work site. After 13 weeks, Tad Fairbank was so impressed with this student that he offered her a job. She eventually elected to continue her education at the university level with a focus on architecture.
For the past decade, the now named Career Exploration Committee has been dedicated to providing career exploration opportunities to middle and high school students before they graduate. During the 2024/25 school year, the committee has been working hand-in-hand with the school district’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) staff on a number of career exploration programs:
- Launched in the Fall of 2024, the Careers and Conversations program provides an opportunity for students to gain information from various professionals. The program is comprised of two parts: small group discussions between Rotarians and students interested in their fields, and a series of panels with Rotarians in related professions, such as medicine and technology.
- Consistent with the Career Exploration Committee’s 2024-25 Action Plan, support for the CTE staff includes the recruitment of employers to participate in the CTE Winter Student Internships Program. Under the program, one or more Bainbridge and Eagle Harbor High School students will spend 2.5 hours per week for 6 weeks at a participating Island employer to learn about what they do, how, and for whom. The students will meet with different employees who represent the separate, distinct careers embedded in the enterprise. The final week will include a debrief that focuses on lessons learned from the students participating in the program.
- One of the best, most popular BISD CTE programs are field trips during which students visit a company, agency, or organization for several hours to learn what they do and how, and the careers embedded in their operations. The CTE staff handles this program, but has asked the Career Exploration Committee to provide financial assistance in covering the transportation costs associated with each trip. For the coming school year, the Career Exploration Committee also has agreed to support Job Shadow Days scheduled for October 2024 and May 2025, and the Beyond BHS and Explore Days.
One of the Committee’s most notable accomplishments in 2024 was the creation of the Murdock Construction & Engineering Scholarship, named after visionary club member Roy Murdock, who was instrumental in propelling the Career Exploration Committee’s work forward. Most notably, Roy’s interest in Career and Technical Education led him to donate $100,000 to the school district for the purchase of equipment necessary to create a Composite Engineering Program servicing both Bainbridge and Eagle Harbor High School students. Murdock’s dream was to interlock the high school program with trade school, two-year college, and four-year college/university level programs as well as apprentice or internship opportunities. In May 2024 and with the help of the club’s Scholarship Foundation, the Career Exploration Committee awarded its first two scholarships, and looks forward to doing so again in May 2025.
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By Lauren Groves