The academic curriculum at Colcord High School prepares students to create a future of their design including careers that continue to emerge. Beyond academics, students are best served by engaging in a purposeful exploration of the world of work, learning about the relationship between potential careers and their personal values, interests, and strengths. Students will be introduced to concepts related to postsecondary planning through the postsecondary curriculum. In May 2017, the Oklahoma State legislature passed legislation that introduces the concept of an Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP), a required element for all students in grades 9th-12^th grades. During the 2018 and 2019 academic school years, pilot programs were developed in the state of Oklahoma. The ICAP will be in implementation at Colcord High School during the 2019-2020 school year beginning with all freshmen students.

The elements and activities included in a student's grade level ICAP help a student link the student's interests, current choices and achievements to his/her future opportunities in higher education and the world of work. The activities within the student's ICAP portfolio are designed to help the student define personal goals; identify personal strengths using career and interest surveys, and understand the benefit of planning ahead as well as maintaining an accurate record of personal information. Students will explore careers through learning about “career clusters,” accessing online career based videos, and will gain an understanding of the postsecondary education that a particular career might require.  Colcord HS will be using the OK Career Guide as a tool to help implement the ICAP plans for our freshmen students during the course of this school year.

A student's ICAP will be housed and maintained in the student’s personal account on OK Career Guide. Students will update and complete tasks in their grade level ICAP during monthly sessions. The monthly sessions will take place in a required freshmen class (Introduction to AG, Family Consumer Sciences I, or Careers).

Each ICAP will include:

• Four-year academic plan
• ICAP Goals and Yearly Benchmarks
• Standardized Test Scores
• An ongoing record of extracurricular activities and achievements 

By Grade level, the ICAP may include:

• Interest Survey Results
• Career Interest Survey Results
• Possible postsecondary institutions/pathways
• Possible careers and majors
• Financial Aid and Scholarship Information
• Post-secondary Documentation
• Record of student's college and post-secondary applications
• Record of student's progress toward securing scholarships and financial aid

Perspectives from Employers:
The 21st Century Ready Skills that employers are looking for in future employees include:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Information management
• Collaboration skills
• Self-direction
• Invention (innovation)
• The ability to apply all of the above!

Employers also observe that an individual's work ethic, facility in oral communications and a sense of social responsibility are factors in evaluating a new employee's ability to positively contribute to their organization. For more on the employer's perspective, watch this video!