RICHMOND — Edison High School is preparing students for their careers through the new Future Plans initiative.

District Career Pathways Coach Leah Eft said students complete a career assessment and then undergo one-on-one coaching to map their future. The assessments kicked off on Sept. 16 with sophomores and continued through Sept. 27 with juniors and seniors, while one-on-one coaching will begin on Oct. 27.

“It’s a district initiative and we’re making it a priority,” Eft said. “The end goal is to connect each student to a customized pathway through assessments, coaching and counseling.”

The current goal is to involve sophomores to seniors and then pare down the participants to only include sophomores in the future.

“The student takes an assessment and completes sessions. Once we get through the assessments, they begin coaching and 25 students can be coached per day. Each student has a dashboard system and can be matched with jobs and life skills to see how their pathways connect to a job. They are also connected to a website to obtain a job.”

Eft said the system is user friendly and all-encompassing, plus it is colorful, visually aesthetic and appealing to youth. The plan is to implement the program with sophomores, juniors and seniors this year and focus solely on the sophomore class. Career coaching will occur with representatives of the Grit Project, which provides resources to assist schools in developing career-ready students upon graduation.

“This year, approximately 300 students in grades 10-12 will participate,” she added. “Then it will be every sophomore, which is approximately 115 students per year. The content on the website is geared towards the student and they have opportunities from their class lessons to deep dive into their own personal pathway.”

She noted that about five sessions will take place each day with five students at a time, while the 25-minute sessions are held during scheduled times at the Edison Fieldhouse.

Eft said other programs have targeted the district’s mission to have students enrolled, enlisted or employed with classroom lessons in all schools, including “What’s Your Path?” with freshman, career exploration with grades 6-8 and lessons with guidance counselors in the elementary buildings.