Explorers or Learning for Life participants can earn a Career Achievement Award in one or all of the 12 career clusters. To earn a Career Achievement Award, the candidate must provide 50 hours of community service and complete any nine career achievements. The Explorer post Advisor or adult high school Learning for Life group leader certifies that each Explorer or Learning for Life participant has satisfactorily performed 50 hours of community service and verifies that each candidate has completed at least nine achievements within the career cluster.
Do nine of the following:
| 1. | a. | Interview a teacher, guidance counselor, or administrator to find out what attracted that person to a profession in education. |
| b. | Find out what education is required to be a teacher, a guidance counselor, and an administrator. Also find out about the availability of teaching positions in your community and state. | |
| 2. | a. | Research the correlation between student achievement and teacher expectation. Example: Do teachers expect less from low-income students? Do teachers' high expectations produce high performance levels regardless of social or economic standing? |
| b. | Using your findings, make a tabletop display or presentation to a group, such as your post, another post, or other community group. | |
| 3. | a. | Find out what it takes to be a foreign exchange student or to host a foreign exchange student. |
| b. | Become a foreign exchange student, host a foreign exchange student, or interview someone who is or has been a foreign exchange student to find out about his or her experiences. | |
| c. | Find out which state has the most foreign exchange students and which countries the United States sends the most students to. Then find out which country sends the most students to the United States. | |
| 4. | a. | Arrange to tour at least one other school in a different social environment than yours, such as an inner-city, rural, suburban, or private school. |
| b. | List similarities and dissimilarities to your school. Identify problem areas you noticed and possible solutions. | |
| 5. | a. | Be a teacher's aide on a class trip or outing for younger children. |
| OR | ||
| b. | Lead a young children's group, such as a kindergarten class, elementary class, or others, on a nature trail, outdoor activity, or day camp. | |
| OR | ||
| c. | Tutor the children of migrant workers, youth in a disadvantaged community, or someone learning to read. | |
| 6. | a. | Learn how much money your community, state, and nation spend on education. What are the revenue sources for this money? Are there restrictions on how the money is spent? |
| b. | Research the origins of the public school system. Have the purposes of public education changed since its beginning? | |
| 7. | a. | Research how your school district is governed. Is your superintendent appointed or elected? Are your school board members appointed or elected? |
| b. | Interview a school board member or superintendent to find out about his/her job and responsibilities. | |
| c. | Attend a school board meeting. | |
| 8. | a. | Pick out any simple skill, such as brushing your teeth, driving a car, making a bed, or balancing a checkbook. Make a teaching outline and then teach a class or group about the subject. Have them critique your teaching skills. |
| OR | ||
| b. | Attend a class or seminar that teaches teaching/presentation skills. | |
| 9. | a. | Attend a theater production. Write a critique on the work in the area of set design, decorations, and costume design. |
| OR | ||
| b. | Produce and direct a play or puppet show for a group of younger children, such as a day-care center, kindergarten class, or elementary class. | |
| 10. | a. | Learn how computers help your schoolwork. |
| b. | Make a tabletop display for your class or school on the importance and use of computers in the school environment. | |
| 11. | a. | Interview two people other than teachers or school administrators and find out the following: Where were they educated? What were they trained in? How did this help prepare them for the life they now live? Find out how each continues to educate himself or herself. |
| b. | Write a report on your findings. | |
| 12. | Choose ONE of the following activities and devote at least four hours of service to that activity:
| |
Explorer Leader Handbook (No. 34637A) and the Learning for Life Web site (http://www.learning-for-life.org)
Because of the design and flexible nature of the program, Advisors and adult leaders are permitted a reasonable degree of latitude in substituting appropriate achievements that serve to meet the qualifying requirements for the Learning for Life Career Achievement Award.
Download both of the following forms:
You will need Acrobat® Reader to download and print these forms - this free software may be downloaded from Adobe.
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