Without a creative intervention, students in High School District 218 would miss out on a valuable resource as they made post-graduation plans. Amid the pandemic, usual career search tools such as guest speakers and field trips were canceled.

But district officials were determined to make it happen.

They banded together and built a website with a host of enticing photos and headlines that offer an easy-to-digest snapshot of the many professions out there after high school.

They knew their high schoolers were tech savvy and right at home in a virtual environment. But the career facilitators also wanted to give the site a personal touch to pique student interest, so they searched for alumni and other community partners to spotlight their careers in videos.

“We really honed in on alumni and community partners to kind of bring it more home to the kids, so they can relate to it more, rather than use some generic videos that aren’t close to home,” said Mary Kate Farnan, career facilitator at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, who put together the “meat” of the website. “I personally think students can connect more just because they’re thinking (the alumni) went through similar experiences, now they’re doing this.”

The site is went live this week at https://sites.google.com/chsd218.org/district218virtualcareerweek/home.

The career categories highlighted include agriculture, food and natural resources; architecture and construction; education and training; science technology engineering and mathematics; and transportation, distribution, and logistics.

Linda Otey, a career facilitator at Delta Learning Center and Summit Learning Center, pointed out the site was especially important to her students and their parents because many of the teens begin their careers directly after graduation. She said the site could introduce students to careers they might not have considered.

“Having these career exploration trips canceled for 14 months left a void in students’ career planning,” Otey said. “When it comes to choosing a career and preparing for it, you can never have too much information.”

Making the site as innovative and enticing as possible was important because of all the online information students have to sort through, according to Shirley Bennett, career/academic counselor at Shepard High School in Palos Heights.

Students may not know all the career possibilities, said Bennett.

“There’s so much out there in terms of careers … years ago maybe you’d be a teacher, lawyer or doctor, but there’s so many different categories underneath those careers, it’s hard for students to understand that,” she said.

Lindsey Mikols, career facilitator at Richards High School in Oak Lawn, had the added benefit that she attended Shepard High School and still had many contacts among alumni.

“Having that connection to the district gave me a unique way to solicit videos,” she said.

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.