Remake Learning Days brought fun activities and a boost toward career readiness

Clarion-Limestone Agricultural Days photo above courtesy of Remake Learning Days.

Career Ready PA is working to ensure Pennsylvania families are thinking about the future. 

From take-home terrariums to a masterclass in circuitry, it’s no secret that there are endless ways to have a blast each year during Remake Learning Days. These events are designed with kids in mind. Participants are bound to discover new interests — but could some of those become a career? 

Again this year, the Career Ready PA program partnered with Remake Learning Days to help students get inspired about the work they might do in the future.

That’s one of the program’s goals, says Laura Fridirici, a Pennsylvania Department of Education career readiness advisor.

“It is never too early to learn about a career or skill,” she says, because even preschoolers learn about future careers by observing the world around them. “For example, if taking a child to the doctor, parents can explain what skills a healthcare provider uses in their job.”

Fridirici and her team used that approach to weave career readiness into every facet of Remake Learning Days this year. Families across the state had a chance to think about careers while engaging in the hundreds of dynamic learning experiences during the Remake Learning Days festival, which ends tomorrow in Pennsylvania but continues in other regions of the world. 

Some of these events were held at schools where children participated as a class, like the Clarion-Limestone School District’s Agricultural Day. Students in the district’s Life Skills program learned about careers related to gardening and food systems as part of their school day. There were also opportunities for nontraditional learners to think about future work. Just one example: The Bloomsburg Children’s Museum hosted a Homeschool Hangout to explore the Susquehanna River. During that event, kids and their families learned about stream health, local flora and fauna, and potential careers in Pennsylvania’s outdoor spaces. 

To make career exploration even more accessible, Remake Learning Days offered virtual opportunities like SLB Radio’s “Streaming the Future.” This event, on May 13, included a live conversation with Pennsylvania teens about their goals, hopes and visions for themselves and society as a whole.

Many Remake Learning Day events are designed for children and their caregivers to attend together, like the Discover Scuba event at Pittsburgh’s Kingsley Center. Teens and grown-ups not only got a chance to try scuba diving in the center’s indoor pool. They also learned about careers related to marine science, conservation efforts and even careers in public safety. (Divers are often part of important recovery missions when there is a disaster.) 

For some teens, it may have been the first time they connected their love of aquatics to future career fields. Fridirici says that’s the goal: Real-life, hands-on learning helps bring potential careers to life in a much more powerful way than simply reading about them.

“It is important to highlight everyday interactions and experiences to show how the skills we use every day — teamwork, critical thinking, and communication — are the foundation for skills needed in careers and life,” Fridirici says. 

That’s why the Pennsylvania Department of Education collaborates with other state agencies to share outdoor learning and educational programs through other state agencies, Fridirici says. Remake Learning Days is one way these organizations connect with kids who are exploring future careers, and there are also summer opportunities for work-based learning as kids approach adulthood.

It’s all part of a statewide initiative to help youth explore career options in a robust way. The Career Ready PA Coalition is focused on providing those experiences, from toddlerhood until graduation.