Issue: #7
May 2013
Welcome to the May edition of the VirtualJobShadow.com newsletter! It's hard to believe, but another academic year is coming to a close. Throughout May and June, many high school seniors are graduating and are now ready to take flight for more school, more training, or the beginning of their workplace careers.  To all of them we say "Congratulations!!"

And, while students have been finishing up their school work, we've been putting the finishing touches on the new Student Dashboard page. It features a college search, internship search, online magazines and more! Plus we just added a new digital job shadow video - Manufacturing Engineer. Finally, because science is always cool, we're including some great stories about high school scientists that you and your students might have missed.

Sincerely,
Your friends at VirtualJobShadow.com
New Feature at VirtualJobShadow.com!
New Student Dashboard is Here!
The Student Dashboard feature is a very exciting addition to VirtualJobShadow. The dashboard is a one-stop shop for college and career info, job and internship searches, curated articles of interest to students and educators, and much more.
 
Dashboard Home Page

Magazine Page Example

Job/Internship Search


You and your students are busy, so it only makes sense to have all this great information easy to find and quick to access. To see how it works, login to your VirtualJobShadow.com account or sign up for a free trial account to see it in action!
Check out our Latest Blog Post

VirtualJobShadow.com is dedicated to helping young people make informed education and career decisions. Our new blog is another way to get the word out that STEM and STEAM education is important. Our latest blog entry focuses on the how learning never stops, even when it's time for summer vacation. Click here to access the blog.
Legislative News
STEM to STEAM Legislation Puts STEM and STEAM to the Forefront 
 
Two recent news articles about Federal and State legislation caught our attention this past month.
 
In Washington state, Senate Bill 5909 proposes expanding the emphasis on science education so that it includes Arts, essentially a STEM to STEAM initiative. As part of a greater push for science education, Washington state government is also considering H.B.1872 and S.B 5755 which would help create a united STEM effort throughout the State.  For more information, visit  http://bit.ly/13hHuU0.

 

On the Federal level, an Education Week blog notes that the current bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill (DREAM Act) has language that will help fund STEM initiatives. From the article: 

 

Essentially, the bill, which was introduced by eight senators from both sides of the aisle, would boost the number of so-called "H-1B" visas which are used to temporarily employ workers with special skills (including in areas such as engineering). That increase would result in more money in fees collected from those visas. Plus, the bill would raise fees on Green Cards (for permanent, legal residents.)

The extra money raised-estimates are around $150 million-would go, in part, to STEM education, at both the higher education and K-12 levels. Sixty percent of the funds, for instance, would go to help support scholarships to help low-income and minority students study STEM in college. And another 12 percent would help minority-serving institutions (for example, historically black colleges) bolster their STEM programs.

But another 15 percent would be for public-private partnerships to bolster STEM at the K-12 level. Essentially, the measure directs the National Science Foundation to use the funds to ensure that more K-12 students graduate from high school ready to tackle college coursework in STEM subjects. 
 
For more information, see  http://bit.ly/10AQFCz
From the Web
New Digital Job Shadow
Manufacturing Engineer - Paula Henrikson

 Our latest job shadow features Paula Henrikson, a Manufacturing Engineer with AvL Technologies. Paula oversees a large team in developing satellite antenna technology used by media outlets like ESPN and the military. Paula loves her work and reveals that an engineering background opens the door to a world of career opportunities. Need some help making Math relevant to the real world? Want to inspire more girls into Engineering? Click the picture above to watch the video, and please share the video with your class!

All of our digital job shadow videos engage students in learning about careers.  The most popular vary from month to month. Here are the top five most-watched career profiles from April:

 

 1. School Counselor

 2. Mechanical Engineer
 3. Executive Chef
 4. Radiologic Technologist 
 5. CNA

 

Social Media and Website Links
Twitterverse
VirtualJobShadow.com is now on Twitter! Please follow us to receive info on workforce statistics, STEM & STEAM news, cool educational trends, CTE happenings, useful classroom technologies, the occasional musing within 140 characters, and breaking news related to VirtualJobShadow.com. You can't beat the tweet! 
 
Contact Us
VirtualJobShadow.com
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P.O. Box 5424
Asheville NC, 28813

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Direct: (828) 545-8260
Fax: (828) 348-1770

Email: [email protected]
In This Issue
New Student Dashboard is Here!
Latest Blog Post
STEM and STEAM Legislation
From the Web
New Digital Job Shadow!
Educators
 
Find out why Educators love our Product! Contact Candace Zlotnick [email protected]

Coming Soon
 
Job Shadows in Development:  

- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
Climate Scientist
- EMT
- Many more!
Employers 
 
Find out how your employees can be featured on VirtualJobShadow.com!
Contact Ed Burgess at [email protected]
Link to Us
Educators can make it even easier for parents and students to access VirtualJobShadow.com by adding a link to your school's homepage.  Click here to access a webpage containing the HTML code, or give this information to your school's webmaster.