Career and College Readiness in Middle School

In addition to the featured ASPIRE middle school activities listed above, ASPIRE offers a variety of additional career and college readiness resources to further support middle school programs.

• ASPIRE Conversation Card Deck- Designed to help middle and high school students explore their career aspirations. Questions aim to stimulate thought, discussion, and self-reflection regarding interests and career goals. Download a copy.
• Career and College Week Planner- Document with ideas for career/college week - activities, presentations, teacher/staff participation, dress-up day ideas, and competitions between classes. Download copies on our website.
• Are You Ready for High School?- This activity helps students learn more about high school by interviewing adults in their lives. By listening to the answers and stories from adults it helps students contextualize high school options and begin thinking about their time in high school. Download copies on our website.

These resources from the Oregon Department of Education are designed to support students, educators, families, and industry partners in building strong college and career pathways. 

• Career Journeys & Toolkit- This collection of videos and a toolkit seeks to help middle and high school students from across the state of Oregon-and beyond-to dream big. It's all about exposing students to in-demand career pathways through "near-peer mentoring" by young professionals. Career Journeys. Classroom Resources
• Oregon Career Connected Learning Resource Hub- Career Connect Oregon Resource Hub- Helps Oregon students create a vision for their future. Includes sections for educators, students, families/caregivers, and industry partners.  Learn more here.
• Oregon Employability Skills- Designed to equip students with the practical skills and mindsets necessary to transition from school to the workforce and beyond. The curriculum focuses on a range of crucial employability skills by providing discussion prompts, videos, lessons, and handouts. Students can earn mini certifications. Find more information here.

This collection of resources from other state and national partners is designed to support middle school students, families, and educators in building early awareness of college and career opportunities. From conversation guides and career maps to savings tools and planning checklists, these materials help students dream big, plan ahead, and take meaningful steps toward their future.

• American School Counselor Association-
  • MS Conversations Guide. This document connects ASCA Student Standards with questions to help spark conversations with students. 
• C3 I Career College Collaborative-
  • CCR lessons grades 6-8 an will help practitioners guide students on a journey to develop a future and focus on making the most out of high school.
  •  Career Journey maps based on 16 Career Clusters for Oregon provide example jobs, example general job specifications, example job descriptions, suggested development, links to all resources.
• ECMC Believing the College Dream-
  • ECMC Believing the College Dream helps you motivate students to dream big and gives the practical skills to make their dreams happen. Learn more here. 
• Embark (Formally Oregon College Savings Plan)-
  • Embark savings can be used for all kinds of education expenses, not just college. That includes trade schools, community colleges, apprenticeships, graduate school, and more. See how gifting and BottleDrop can help families and caregivers save. 
• National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) 
  • This five-session curriculum provides a strong foundation to support students in building the mindset, knowledge, and networks needed to pursue postsecondary education. Designed to provide school counselors resources to help students explore their interests, understand college options and, financing. 
  • Middle School Curriculum
  • Step-by-Step: College Awareness and Planning
• Oregon Goes to College-
  • This middle school checklist is designed to help students learn to prepare for college while they are in middle school. For other resources use this search to select middle school resources that helps meet your needs.
  • Middle School Parent's Guide Parents, other family members, and mentors all play an important role in helping students get ready for college. This guide includes timelines, conversation starters, and checklists.