Islip High School students in Renee Clock’s career development occupational skills class were busy learning transferable job skills during the month of October. Twice a week, the students assisted the custodial staff with afternoon breakdowns of the cafeteria. They worked as a team and learned how to use a chair lift cart and emphasized organizational skills as they stacked, counted and cleared chairs so the custodial team could do their afternoon cleaning. The theme was to incorporate steps to “work smarter, not harder.”

The CDOS class ended the month in the library’s makerspace area, learning how to connect a battery to copper foil-conductive adhesive tape and mini lightbulbs. The students used this knowledge to create a Halloween poster featuring a skull whose eyes lit up when the battery was pressed. This activity required listening to directions and following a step-by-step procedure to create the end project.

“It was a great month for the career skills class,” Clock said. “I try to use different methods of hands-on learning to teach the students various workplace skills. In the classroom, we learn more about the interpersonal or ‘soft’ skills, such as forms of communication like body language, eye contact, asking for help, listening, posture and attitude. Then we participate in different workplace activities to incorporate those skills while doing different hands-on jobs and activities. Our faculty and staff here at the high school are great to work with, and they help me develop meaningful jobs so that my students can get in-house job experience. I’m grateful for their partnership.”

Date Added: 11/8/2022