0:00 – 3:00 | Energizer & Connection
Quick “Career Sparks” icebreaker:
-Ask attendees to recall their first dream job as a kid and share with a partner.
-Debrief: Kids’ dreams are big, and ACP helps connect those dreams with real skills.
3:00 – 10:00 | Core Idea Sprint: The Four Pillars
Format: Mini-present + rapid-fire examples
-Personal Development – Simple SEL-style reflections using VIA Strengths (what am I good at, what skills do I naturally use more easily)
-Employability Skills – Practice teamwork with quick-thinking challenge (e.g., owning a business and hiring employees based on skills)
-Career Clusters – Use free visuals (pre-made on Canva) for gallery walk along with visuals for matching game.
-Hands-On Practice – Mock “peep habitat” with everyday items (e.g., students design a habitat for their peep using low cost items (noodles, marshmallows, and tape).
-Tie back to attendees: each can be done with free/cheap supplies—paper, markers, recyclables, or digital tools.
10:00 – 20:00 | Interactive Breakout: Build a Mini Unit
-Attendees break into small groups.
-Each group picks one of the four pillars and sketches a 5-minute mini lesson idea which:
*Engages kids, connects to ACP, uses little to no budget.
Provide a “Fast Unit Builder” template (3 boxes: Goal → Activity → Free/Low-Cost Resource) and share out.
20:00 – 26:00 | Actionable Resource Blast
-Presenter shares rapid-fire, shoestring resources:
Use a digital option (Mentimeter/Slido) to share one new strategy or tool they will try in their classroom or school.
-Provide a QR code to a curated list of low-cost resources, templates, and data collection tools:
*Career cluster posters & videos (YouTube, Canva, CareerOneStop).
*Job cards or role cards made with index cards or online.
*Free online interest surveys.
*Local community guest speakers (in-person or virtual).
-Highlight ways to track student engagement and satisfaction data to demonstrate program impact.
26:00 – 30:00 | Wrap-Up and Questions
-Closing message: “Academic & career planning doesn’t need a big budget—just big creativity and a focus on building future-ready kids.”
-Design quick, low cost Academic and Career Planning activities which build students’ personal development and self-awareness in grades 4–6.
-Integrate employability skills practice (teamwork, communication, problem-solving) into short classroom lessons using everyday materials.
-Facilitate hands-on practice opportunities that connect learning to real-world applications while sparking curiosity.
-Adapt academic and career planning to a shoestring budget, identifying at least 2–3 free or low-cost resources to bring back to their own schools.
-Pathways to School Readiness: Executive Functioning Predicts Academic and Social-Emotional Aspects of School Readiness (Mann, Hund, etc.)
-Career Development and Systems Theory: Connecting Theory and Practice by Wendy Patton & Mary McMahon (4th ed., 2021)
-Career Exploration and Development in Childhood: Perspectives from Theory, Practice and Research (eds. Mark Watson & Mary McMahon, 2017)
-College and Career Readiness: A Guide for School Counselors K-12 by Cheryl Moore-Thomas
-Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction-Academic and Career Planning Educator Tools
-Advanced CTE Resources
-Lynn Meltzer, PhD — Major researcher/practitioner on executive functioning in education.
-Cheryl Moore-Thomas — Her guide for school counselors focuses on developmentally appropriate, equity-minded career readiness across K-12.
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