Career Café: Location, Location, Location!
Career Café is an opportunity for students to learn about careers from individuals in their community. One of my biggest success as a school counselor has been starting a Career Café at my school. Students absolutely love Career Café, it is a blast to host, and it meets ASCA Student Standard in the Career Domain. Career Cafe can also be geared toward any level - elementary, middle, or high school!
I have gotten tons of inquiries and questions about hosting a Career Café. I am creating a series of posts to explain Career Café in greater detail and provide you with the tools you need to start a Career Café at your school.
First up...
Location, Location, Location
The first step in preparing to host a Career Café at your school is determining a location for the Career Café. When thinking about a space, you want to determine how many students you will be able to accomodate in the space.
When I first started hosting a Career Café, it was held in my co-counselor's office, a HUGE classroom. Utilizing tables, chairs, beanbag seats, and carpet space there was enough room to accomodate about 20+ students at a time.
Students at Career Café in my co-counselor's previous HUGE classroom/office.
The speaker was a branch manager from a local bank.
This past year, I hosted Career Café in the school library. I was able to accomodate approximately 30 students at a time. This setting was a little more comfortable for students.
Students at Career Café in the school library.
The Career Café speaker was a police detective.
When choosing a location, think about how you will set up the space for the actual presentations. Some presenters may want to use a whiteboard or SmartBoard for the presentation. The presenter may also want to use a PowerPoint or show visual aids.
Also, make sure the space is a place where students can eat lunch (if you decide to host Career Café during lunch).
It is completely OK to start Career Café off in a small space and make it larger as you go! Finding a space that works for your students, presenters, and you is the first step to creating a successful Career Café.
Suggestions of where to host a Career Café include:
- classroom
- school library
- large group instruction room
- large conference area
- science lab
Have you hosted a Career Café? What locations would you recommend for hosting a Career Café?
This post is the first post in a series of how to host a Career Café at your school.
Read other posts about Career Café:
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Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via email, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.
