Pewaukee School District opens applications for Insight career‑exploration program; deadline Jan. 8

Adrianna Clough, continuous improvement coordinator and director of the Insight program for the Pewaukee School District, urged students to apply before the deadline, saying, "Application deadline is midnight on Thursday, January 8." She said acceptances will be announced on Jan. 22 and that interviews will be scheduled immediately after applications close.

The Insight program, now nine strands strong after adding a Serving Others internship last year, is intended to give students a rigorous, career‑focused experience while they are still in high school. Clough described the program as emphasizing mentorship, employability skills and practical immersion: "All of our students in the Insight program are matched with a professional mentor," she said, and the district had "about a 140 individual mentors matched with students this year." Clough added the program recently placed its first international mentor.

Courses range from aviation (grades 10–12), which includes a donated flight simulator and partnerships with local aviators and the Waukesha County Airport, to Elements of Health and Medicine (grades 11–12), which includes Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) certified nursing assistant training and clinicals that may lead to CNA certification. Clough cautioned that the CNA pathway carries specific prerequisites and capacity limits: the course currently carries 2.25 credits and is subject to a maximum enrollment "based on state law," and students must meet math and state vaccine requirements tied to the CNA program.

Global Business is a yearlong, team‑taught program that runs two periods daily and awards four high‑school credits; students can earn up to six college credits through UW–Green Bay course partnerships (Econ 202/203). Impact is a repeatable passion‑project strand (one credit) where students pursue yearlong projects; Journalism & Media ("JAM") requires a writing prerequisite and offers industry certifications such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign. Serving Others focuses on human services and community partnerships and now has a repeatable internship for students who have completed the base Serving Others course. The Technology Support Internship has students operate the district help desk, work toward IT certifications (CompTIA, Microsoft and others), and uses disciplinary history as part of eligibility screening.

Clough said the program does not require a minimum GPA; instead, admissions look for intrinsic motivation, professional behavior and adherence to deadlines. She described the interview process as a roughly 15‑minute group interview format held after school or during resource periods. Students receive the application by school email; Clough also said the link is available from the Insight program page (as announced at the meeting).

Practical notes: Elements of Health and Medicine is open to juniors and seniors; aviation and Impact are open to grades 10–12; World Translations is open to grade 12 and requires completion of four levels of a world language. Some classes are repeatable; others are not. Fees, exact state‑statute citations for CNA enrollment caps, and specific schedules for WCTC CNA offerings were described as "not finalized" and "updated in spring," and Clough said the district would share details as they are confirmed.

Clough ended the session by offering to stay for questions and asked families to check student email for the application. "If you can't find it, it would be an email from me," she said, adding that interviews and final scheduling are on a tight timeline so students can plan their schedules.

The program's next procedural steps: applications due Jan. 8 (midnight), interview sign‑ups immediately after, and acceptance notices issued Jan. 22.