On Friday, Sept. 22, West Ranch’s class of 2025 attended an interactive one-day workforce preparation program: Connecting to Success, held at College of the Canyons (COC). This event is a partnership between the Valley Industry Association (VIA) and the VIA Education Foundation to mentor students in building workplace professionalism and skills for their future.
Teacher chaperone Mr. Beardon shared, this event was “for the 11th-grade students here at West Ranch to hopefully gain some knowledge of how to move forward with their possible careers and start thinking about what they’re going to do in the future.”
Once on campus, students started this event by tuning in to Corey Curties, a keynote speaker who set the stage for the day. Curties is a business owner who also works as a development coach, motivational speaker, and author. The talk addressed the importance of maintaining determination and a growth mindset in the face of conflict, a critical skill when it comes to entering the general workforce.
Students were then divided into groups and headed off to different parts of COC’s campus to listen to the various business leaders of Santa Clarita Valley. These local bank workers, entrepreneurs, real estate agents and business owners shared valuable information regarding relational skills, creating and maintaining a successful image in the workplace and making intelligent financial decisions.
As juniors, the student attendees are rapidly approaching the end of their high school careers and the start of their lives in the workplace. “[We’re] just trying to help students create a vision for themselves and look for ways to think about what they want to do in their future and [prepare] themselves for that future,” Principal Mr. Fisher expressed. “Students need to constantly be reminded of decisions that they’re making on a daily basis and how that can affect their future.”
The breakout session closed with a fun and competitive game of Jeopardy in which students applied the new knowledge that they had gained.
Following a lunch break, students quickly hustled back into the center to attend a talk led by a panel of four employees with workforce experience in the Santa Clarita Valley. They shared their success stories of rising above struggles to achieve their goals, inspiring students to follow in their footsteps.
“I feel like I’m better prepared for when I start looking into colleges and jobs,” junior Jude Rietta said. “I think every student should have access to this information on how to be successful.”
Overall, Connecting to Success was an enlightening experience which many students felt that they had benefited from. With this newfound information, students are more prepared to face the next chapter of their lives.
