Houston ISD Fosters Workforce Development Efforts

Students in Houston Independent School District will jump-start their career exploration with the ability to digitally job shadow many of the nation’s hottest careers from their classrooms or homes. Houston ISD, the seventh largest school district in the United States, has adopted VirtualJobShadow.com®, a career planning and exploration resource that provides students with a wealth of online tools for directing their career plans. Houston ISD adopted VirtualJobShadow.com to introduce students to career opportunities, prepare them for college and the world of work, and heighten their awareness of local workforce development efforts. VirtualJobShadow.com will service 100,000 students in the school district’s career and technical education program and will be used throughout 110 of the districts’ secondary schools. VirtualJobShadow.com enables students to job shadow real people in real jobs from any computer or tablet through a vast collection of career profile videos not available anywhere else. VirtualJobShadow.com will be regionalized to the Houston area, presenting job data and career information that reflect Houston’s workforce development efforts and develop students’ understanding of their local job market. New videos, featuring professionals employed in the oil and gas industry, will be added to the collection to heighten students’ awareness of in-demand STEM careers.

“We’re very excited to play a role in the collaborative efforts between HISD and the Houston business community,” said Kim Celentano, chief executive officer of Strivven Media, the parent company of VirtualjobShadow.com. “VirtualJobShadow.com is the perfect bridge between students and the workforce. Featuring local Houston employees from the oil and gas industry in our day-in-the-life, career profile videos is a win for all stakeholders.”

Michael Webster, assistant superintendent of career readiness at HISD, said, “Houston ISD is extremely excited about this opportunity. In a school district of choice, students have over 40 high schools with more than 150 career education programs to choose from within these schools. Such choices require students and their families to be well informed about potential careers. What better way is there to connect students to careers than real life, job shadowing experiences available at a click of a button?”

The HISD adoption of VirtuaJobShadow.com was procured through Strivven Media’s distribution partner, JIST Publishing. Linda Hein, vice president and publisher of JIST Publishing, said, “The sooner students learn about the realities of the work world, the more likely they are to make smart choices about their education, training and careers. JIST is thrilled to assist Houston ISD in helping students become college and career ready with VirtualJobShadow.com, a sophisticated resource that makes career exploration easy and engaging for today’s tech-savvy youths.”

For additional information, please contact Amanda McCann at 888-908-4924, or Amanda@strivven.com.

About Houston Independent School District

The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the seventh largest school district in the United States with 282 schools and nearly 212,000 students. The 334-square-mile district is one of the largest employers in the Houston metropolitan area with more than 28,000 employees. For more information, visit the HISD website at HoustonISD.org.