BCC Freshmen Choose Career Pathways at Declaration Day

Last week, each Battle Creek Central High School Freshman Academy scholar stepped across the stage in the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium to officially declare the Career Pathways they will focus on for the remainder of their high school careers.

Each of these scholars has engaged in a meaningful freshman year where they explored career opportunities in Freshman Seminar, participated in mock interviews, went on pathway-specific college visits, engaged with career panels, learned about opportunities through the annual Career Exploration Fair, and spent intentional time with their Freshman Academy teachers to cultivate a strong sense of community within the Bearcat Family.

This year's Declaration Day celebration included impressive, moving performances from Keynote Speakers, Jalen Mac (rapper), Gabriel G (motivational speaker), DC (singer/rapper), and DJ Boogie (14-year-old DJ phenom). Reciting one of his pieces on stage, Gabriel G. stated, "If you haven't failed in life, you haven't lived. Because failure tells us that we've taken a risk and that we're still challenging our own limitations. It's only when we cross the boundary of our comfort zone that we begin to open the lid of who we are and rid ourselves of the box that everyone tells us to think outside of." And after engaging students in a fun, inspirational performance, DC encouraged the students, saying, "you belong in every space, no matter what career you want to go into."

The students' pathway selections represent the next steps in an educational journey of career exploration and experience that will prepare them to graduate career, college, and community ready.

BCCHS Career Academies are “schools within a school” tailored to different career interest areas. Now that all BCC ninth-graders have declared their pathways, they will begin engaging in interest-based and experiential learning for their chosen pathway.