MELMAC College and Career Specialist

JMG•Augusta, ME

4d•Onsite

About The Position

JMG, in partnership with the MELMAC Educational Foundation, is seeking a Career and College Pathways Specialist to support students at Winslow High School. Working alongside the school's counseling team, the Career and College Pathways Specialist helps students in grades 9-12 explore career options, prepare for college and training opportunities, and develop a personalized plan for life after high school. Through one-on-one coaching, group programming, and strong partnerships with educators, families, employers, and community organizations, you'll help students build the confidence, skills, and connections they need for their next step. We're looking for someone who is relationship-focused, organized, and passionate about helping young people discover their strengths and pursue meaningful futures. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who enjoys collaborating with school and community partners to create opportunities for students. The MELMAC College and Career Specialist will serve as the primary staff representing the MELMAC/JMG partnership demonstration. The MELMAC College and Career Specialist will provide assistance to all high school students, individually and in groups, regarding high school graduation and post-secondary career planning. The fundamental purpose of the MELMAC College and Career Specialist is to empower students to make informed decisions about their career and educational plans and to prepare students for successful transition to post-secondary training/education or work experiences.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree
Experience working with high school-age students in developing their aspirations
Ability to communicate effectively with youth, adults, and members of the community
Ability to analyze, develop, implement, and track intervention plans and strategies
Knowledge of and the ability to analyze data

Responsibilities

Generate School Support and Develop College Access Team: In collaboration with a school’s existing leadership, maintain and facilitate a College Access Team that includes administrators, teachers, advisors, guidance counselors, school social workers and/or any other relevant staff, parents and students. College Access Team will plan and implement grant Best Practices.
Career Exploration and Preparation: Facilitate the development of individual graduation and career plans/portfolios to include the best options to meet individual academic and post-secondary goals. Coordinate sophomore post-secondary visits with school personnel/College Access Team. Utilize Maine and National labor trend data on high wage, high demand occupations to educate and advise students on career options, career pathways, educational requirements and related employment. Assist students with enrolling in education or training programs, prepare them for applying for work experiences. Work with guidance to track FASFA application completion. Coordinate with MSSI partner to offer financial aid information to families.
Academics /Academic Remediation: Refer/Connect high school students to dual enrollment and early college programs, Advanced Placement classes, and academic and career and technical education (CTE) programs, etc. Develop and implement individual, small group, and whole school intervention and prevention strategies to increase the likelihood that students will stay in school and graduate from high school.
Develop Relationships with Parents/Guardians, Employers, Community Organizations, and Other Resources: Provide early outreach to students and their parents with information about the importance of post-secondary training or education. Coordinate efforts on behalf of students with JMG staff, school personnel, community resources and employers. Develop and maintain community and employer relationships that benefit students. Advocate with parents, school personnel, employers, etc. on behalf of students. Provide or connect disadvantaged or low-income students to support services that will ease the transition to post-secondary training or education. (Such as WIA, TANF, Voc Rehab, etc.) Connect individual students and their parents/guardians with community organizations and programs, such as Early College for ME, FAME, as well as area Career and Technical Education Centers.
Business /Employer Engagement/Extended Learning Opportunities: Develop and coordinate career awareness activities such as a career fair, job shadowing, mentoring, internships and other career awareness activities with employers, business associations, etc. Develop a data base of employer opportunities for extended learning opportunities.
Assessment and Reporting: Coordinate the administering and providing interpretation of ability/career assessments and college entrance assessments as such as CASAS, Accuplacer, ASVAB, etc. Assist in the preparation for PSAT, SAT, etc. and coordinate follow-up activities with school personnel. Ease the transition of students from high school to postsecondary training and education and/or the skilled workforce. Providing regular follow up services for the 18 months following their graduation or separation from their secondary institution. Conduct and analyze ongoing formative and summative evaluation data of program effectiveness. Provide and/or submit reports to MELMAC/JMG as scheduled/ requested.
Other: Participate in Melmac, and JMG activities and events including meetings, professional development as required etc. Manage annual budget Serve on project teams, work groups as assigned. All other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Performance-based bonuses
Paid Time Off: Includes school vacation weeks in December, February, and April, plus 15 additional vacation days.
Sick Leave: 3 weeks of sick time and 1 week of Covid time
Health, dental, and vision insurance.
Company-paid disability and life insurance.
Voluntary life insurance options.
403(b) plan with employer match after two years of service.
Tuition reimbursement.
Health and dependent care flexible spending accounts.
Gym membership reimbursement and additional wellness benefits