CHAMBER SPONSORS YOUSCIENCE™ CAREER GUIDANCE PLATFORM IN ACADEMIES OF NASHVILLE TO HELP PREPARE NINTH GRADE STUDENTS FOR NOVEMBER CAREER EXPLORATION FAIR
Nashville, Tenn. - Nov. 2, 2017 - Metro Nashville Public Schools and Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce announced today a partnership to help students explore their talents while also learning about parallel career paths after graduation.
This fall, MNPS is providing a cutting-edge career guidance platform called YouScience™ to all ninth-grade students at the Academies of Nashville. YouScience helps students better understand their aptitudes, broaden awareness of career opportunities, and make more informed decisions about their individual pathway from school to career. To learn more, click here.
Nashville Chief of Schools Dr. Sito Narcisse said, “YouScience is an engaging and innovative tool that encourages students to think more proactively about their future. We're grateful to the Chamber for sponsoring this program and providing students a tool that will help them learn more about their innate talents. We see this as an exciting addition for our schools and the Middle Tennessee business community, and look forward to leveraging this program to better prepare our kids for what comes after graduation.”
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ralph Schulz said, “Nashville is attracting national and international companies that are eager to invest in our communities. There is abundant economic opportunity in our region for young people who can leverage their strengths and talents during post-secondary education and open the door to an eventual career. We're excited to offer YouScience to 9th graders in the Academies of Nashville because this program helps students better understand how their abilities align with real-world careers.”
The annual “My Future, My Way” Career Exploration Fair, scheduled for Nov. 14 and hosted by MNPS, involves nearly 7,000 ninth grade students exploring career opportunities with Middle Tennessee business and industry leaders. Last year, more than 100 organizations participated in the career fair, and registrations for the 2017 event have already surpassed that number.
“Encouraging students to engage with the YouScience platform prior to the career fair will help broaden their awareness of local industries and job opportunities and allow them to quickly connect with leaders in fields that align with their unique interests and aptitudes,” said Verlinda Darden, Policy Project Coordinator at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
YouScience CEO Philip Hardin said, “With thousands of YouScience users across the country, we've confirmed there's certainly no shortage of talent among our nation's youth. With the right guidance, America's workforce gaps can easily be addressed with a broader, more diverse talent pool that is ready and willing to tackle industry challenges. YouScience is excited to partner with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Academies of Nashville to further strengthen the Middle Tennessee economy.”
Unlike traditional self-reported, interest-based career tools, YouScience is the only system that employs decades of rigorous scientific research to measure students' aptitudes through a series of engaging “brain games”. YouScience's patent-pending technology combines cutting-edge matching algorithms with the most reliable and comprehensive career data, providing each student with a highly-personalized online profile that highlights the intersection of his or her unique talents, passions and opportunities.
To learn more about YouScience, visit www.youscience.com. To learn more about the “My Future, My Way” Career Exploration Fair or to register a business to participate, click here.
METRO NASHVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Metro Nashville Public Schools is one of the nation's top 50 largest school districts, preparing 88,000 students for higher education, work and life. With the goal of being the first choice for Nashville families, Metro Schools is committed to #ExceedingGreatExpectations with the mission of delivering a great public education to every student, every day. The district is earning a national reputation for urban school reform, social and emotional learning and rising academic achievement. The governing body for Metro Schools is the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education, a nine-member elected body. For more information, visit MNPS.org, or follow us on Twitter @MetroSchools or Facebook /MetroSchools.