Wenatchee Learns is teaming up with students from Wenatchee High School to implement the use of a new career oriented program. It’s called Career Cruising and it will replace the search engine students use now, WOIS.

Wenatchee Learns coordinator Diana Haglund said the program will help students explore and identify some potential careers that they are interested in and from there, they will be able to design a four-year plan of courses geared toward that career.

“Career Cruising will connect [students] with real people in the community who are professionals in that industry,” Haglund said. “[They will be] test driving a career through work-based learning.”

Haglund said one of the reasons they have decided to start this program is to get students to perform “in depth” research, so they are more informed and better prepared.

Wenatchee Learns workers intend to get the program rolling in the fall with the help of some student representatives. Haglund said they aren’t sure how they will get students to start using it yet, whether it will be a Culminating Project requirement or something they do in their Career and Technical Education classes.

Some of the student representatives include juniors Christa Dietrich, Francesca Nevil, Jacob Prater, Jose Navarro, Manny Rivas, Fancy Zaldivar, and sophomore Dalton Sugg.

“Career Cruising has everything available in one area, from scholarship apps and individualized career help to its compatibility with Skyward,” Nevil said. “It’s very practical and easy to use, I completely support the switch.”

The student representatives will help other students ease into using and getting the feel of the program.

Haglund said they were able to begin this project because the Wenatchee School District was one of five testing sites in the state of Washington to be given the Career Readiness for a Working Washington grant. Haglund said the grant gave the district somewhere between $65,000 and $70,000 and the program will be implemented over a period of three years.

“WOIS is great but it has limitations,” Haglund said. “Working with the community is a big piece of Wenatchee Learns and with this work-based learning, students can connect with professionals.”

Haglund said this program will give students more opportunities to do internships, job shadows, and more.

“[Career Cruising] gives students the driver’s seat to explore whatever their passion is for the future,” Haglund said. “If they don’t know [what they want to do], it gives them the resource to find what their future will be about and every student will have the opportunity to use it.”