Canal Winchester career‑readiness coordinator outlines CTE expansion, internships and school partnerships

Jasmine Stevenson, the district’s career‑readiness coordinator, told the Canal Winchester Board of Education on Monday that she is expanding one‑on‑one career counseling, classroom collaboration and employer partnerships across Canal Winchester’s four career‑technical education pathways: biomedical, engineering, Cisco networking and business.

Stevenson described recent student experiences — visits to a careers expo, the Central Ohio Skills Trade Expo, and an Ohio State Highway Patrol lab — and said the district is building more experiential learning opportunities, including pre‑apprenticeships and shadowing with Ohio Health. “If a student says, ‘Miss Jasmine, I want to work,’ I want an opportunity to extend to that student,” she said.

She highlighted several upcoming programs: mini informational interviews on Dec. 6 where students will rotate through brief conversations with professionals, a district career summit planned for March 12, 2025, and a volunteer project working with Life Care Alliance to prepare decorated gift bags for isolated seniors.

Stevenson also urged the board to expand student participation in a state‑backed high‑school tech internship program that reimburses wages up to $5,000 per student. She said about eight students participated this year and proposed increasing participation by about 50 percent if the district can secure employer placements and align scheduling. In response to board questions about transportation and coordination with Eastland Career Center and College Credit Plus, Stevenson said counselors handle enrollment and scheduling for external career‑center programs, transportation limits participation in some off‑site programs and better marketing of the district’s CTE pathways is a priority.

The board thanked Stevenson for the presentation and indicated support for staff efforts to expand partnerships and student access to work‑based learning.