By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Almost a fifth of Marion County’s high school-age students have no career interest at all, according to data from the superintendent’s office.
“It’s not unusual that you have a pocket of students that don’t know what they want to do,” Marion County School Superintendent Donna Heston said. “What is uncomfortable for me is how large that number is — 18.6% is larger is larger than we want it to be.”
The data comes from myOptions Encourage, a free college and career planning web and mobile app that MCS provides to students. Heston said the app’s purpose is to empower students to understand their choices for life after high school. The app surveys students who take the PSAT and SAT on their post-high school preferences, with the information delivered to administrators for insights into how students are approaching the beginning of their adult lives. Heston presented the data at Monday’s school board meeting.
Heston said 23.4% of students showed interest in the health or medicine fields, 23.1% in a law, justice or protective service career and 22.2 wanted to go toward art design, entertainment and media. Apprenticeships or entering the workforce directly made up 10.1% of students. But the number that concerns Heston and school officials the most is the 18.6% who had no career interest after high school.
