Middle School Career Explorations
Help your student prep for their future!
Middle schoolers at Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA) by K12 have the opportunity to begin thinking about future careers and the fields they would like to pursue in high school starting in 7th grade. It’s never too early to start looking toward the future, and our tuition-free online public middle school in Ohio helps your student get a head start!
Preparing Online Middle School Students for What’s Next
At Ohio Virtual Academy, we help students use their middle school years to figure out where they want to go and plan how to get there.
What is project-based learning?
Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.
Career Exploration for OHVA 7th Grade Students
All 7th grade students take a year-long career exploration course focusing on investigating career clusters and general career readiness skills.
Career Exploration for OHVA 8th Grade Students
All 8th grade students take two semester-long career exploration courses focusing on a specific career area: Agriculture & Natural Resources; Arts, AV & Digital Communications; Business & Marketing; Healthcare; and Information Technology (IT).
The 8th grade exploration course offerings are as follows:
- Course Name: CAR045A AG & Natural Resources Principles
Course Description: This is a Project Based Learning (PBL) course that explores basic concepts in the broad areas of agribusiness and agriscience, as well as associated career options in each area. Students study the concepts of horticulture, natural resources, and livestock production, along with other common agriculture-related functions. Projects in this course help students develop a deeper understanding of the roles these agricultural functions play, as well as a better sense of what their future could look like in this career field. - Course Name: CAR015 Arts, AV, Comm. Principles
Course Description: This course provides a practical guide to skills needed for arts, audio/video technology, and communications careers. Units will cover topics like the evolution of multimedia, animation, and film and career opportunities in these fields. OHVA students learn about positive work ethics, team dynamics, creativity, fashion influences, photography basics, time management, critical thinking, job acquisition, technology trends, and Internet risks. The course also emphasizes business etiquette and presentation skills. - Course Name: CAR017E4-PBL Business and Marketing Explorations
Course Description: This is a Project Based Learning (PBL) course that introduces students to careers in business & marketing and explores associated career pathways they may want to pursue in high school, college, or after graduation. Students study the concepts of marketing, financial management, and human resource management, along with other common business-related functions. Students complete projects to develop a deeper understanding of the roles these business functions play. - Course Name: CAR019DE7-PBL Healthcare Explorations
Course Description: This course is a Project Based Learning (PBL) course and is designed to explore career pathways in healthcare. In this course, students study the concepts of public service, effective communication, planning for emergencies, legal issues in health care, and career options along with other common related functions. Students complete projects to develop a deeper understanding of the roles these career functions play. - Course Name: CAR095A Principles of IT
Course Description: This is a Project Based Learning (PBL) course. This course explores information technology career pathways. Students will be introduced to information technology careers so they can better assess which pathway to pursue. In this course, students explore basic concepts in the broad areas of information technology, as well as career options in each area. Students study the concepts of networking information support, web and digital communications, and programming and software development.