Board endorses expanded career-exploration program for 2025–26

The Luxemburg-Casco School District Board of Education approved the district’s 2025–26 academic and career program, a staff presentation said during the meeting.

District staff described a program that expands early career exploration using 14 career-cluster stations for fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms. Staff said each classroom would host two students per station and rotate through hands-on activities (for example, a construction/electrical station and an agriculture/veterinary station) to expose students to a range of occupations.

The presentation included a pilot plan for a reverse career fair in which businesses come to the school and students practice professional communication and self-presentation. Staff said the reverse fair will be piloted with 30 students and that the district intends to involve local businesses and board members.

Staff described the initiative as complementary to existing youth-apprenticeship opportunities and aimed at building “durable skills” — teamwork, communication and leadership — earlier in the K–12 sequence.

A board motion to adopt the 2025–26 academic and career program passed by voice vote.

Implementation steps discussed included using district partnerships (construction and other local businesses were named as potential partners), piloting the reverse career fair, and embedding station rotations into teachers’ schedules toward the end of the school year.

The board did not receive a line-item budget for a commercially sold station set (staff said such sets can cost around $130,000) and instead said the district would develop lower-cost, locally supported versions and seek community assistance.

"We want to help students understand who they are and where they want to go," a staff presenter said. "If we can help them create a real-world environment, I would say our youth apprenticeship does an amazing job growing those skills, but could we grow them earlier? That's really what my goal is."