principal. Because this was such an important event for the school and one
that required that the planner have a total picture of what was involved,
Mr. Thelen decided to handle almost all the details himself. These tasks
included the following:
- Obtaining permission from the superintendent to suspend most classes
this day in order to have informational sessions on careers and colleges
for students. - Creating the special schedule for the day that specified the location and
topic of every presentation. This included adjusting the bell schedule for
the time frame of the sessions. - Arranging with the school dietician for quick box lunches to be served
to students during special lunch periods on this day. - Providing directions to the business presenters. The business advisory
board members did an outreach to their contacts. But it was Mr. Thelen
who sent each one a letter explaining the schedule for the day and pro-
viding a list of suggestions as to how to best maintain the attention of
adolescents for the twenty-minute presentations. - Providing directions to the college representatives. The college coun-
selor reached out to her college contacts. Once they responded, the
principal took over sending a form letter that explained that the college
sessions would be attended by ninth- and tenth-year students, as well as
eleventh and twelfth. An important purpose of this day was to make the
younger students aware of what they needed to do now to be eligible for
acceptance to a particular institution later. - Working with the English Department to give students “lessons” on the
organization of their day, the topics of the presentations, the preparation
of intelligent questions, proper “business world” behavior in these ses-
sions, and so on. The English teachers also gave written assignments,
requiring students to attend at least four sessions, including two college
presentations. - Informing all teachers of the special schedule at least a week in advance
so that they might add assignments; for example, vocational teachers
required a report on at least one career-related session. - Working with the assistant principal of organization to assign teachers
to rooms where presentations would be made. It was and still is a dis-
trict requirement that a licensed teacher be present with students at all
164 Chapter 12