Texas Has more publIc roads THan
anY oTHer sTaTe In THe naTIon, wITH
301,797 mIles.
CReATe a Career
PoRTFoLio
Interns receive $3,000 scholarships for tools Ed Gilfus, co-owner of Applied Racing
and competitive salaries. Bonuses for getting Technology in Austin and a former champion
One valuable tool that can help you get
an “A” or “B” in academics are also paid by automobile racer, suggests that students “find
ready for college and beyond is a career
dealers. “The benefit,” McKethan continues, “is those who race and volunteer to work on their
portfolio—a collection of items that
that students get to experience the real world of crew. Most racers can always use more help.”
document your achievements both in
automotive technology. It either confirms their To find racetracks near you, check out the
and out of school, assembled in one
career choice or changes their mind.” Sports Car Club of America (www.scca.org) and
convenient package.
the National Auto Sport Association (www.
A career portfolio is not simply
Make Your Own Break nasaproracing.com) for closed-course racing
a resume, although it can certainly
Finally, remember you don’t have to rely on formal information and Texas Speedzone (www.txsz.com)
include one. So what should go in a
programs to learn outside the classroom. for stock car racing.
career portfolio? A variety of things,
depending on your own personal
experiences. It could include transcripts
and grades; writing samples; letters
S P O T L I G H T
of recommendation from teachers,
mentors, or employers; awards you’ve
received; and items that document
SELLING tRANSPoRtAtIoN
other activities, such as internships and
job shadowing experiences.
DECA Lets Students Practice marketing Skills
“You need to be specific—dates, how
many years, any awards, what they
T
ransportation is a service that customers buy, and “students may move on to the international level to
meant, and who you received them
many professionals in the transportation industry compete against teams from all 50 states, as well as
from,” says Grace Brauchle, who helps
are involved in selling that service to tourists, travelers, puerto rico, guam, the virgin Islands, canada,
students put their portfolios together
and shippers. students interested in marketing and germany.”
as the career center coordinator for
transportation services pursue the cluster’s sales and local deca chapters organize projects and field trips
Lehman High School in Kyle.
service programs of study in high school and beyond. that can give students firsthand experience in travel
Brauchle says portfolios come in
many students interested in selling transportation and tourism. The highlight of rachael gavri’s deca
handy when students apply for jobs or
services participate in deca, a national association experience was a five-day research trip to universal
admission to college. “First impressions
of marketing students designed to help them practice studios in orlando, florida. as part of a group from
are a very big thing,” she says, “and
the skills they need to succeed. deca sponsors annual clements High school in sugar land, gavri met with
you want to be the one whose papers
competitions at the local, state, and national levels that marketers from the studio and shared ideas
get passed around the office. You want
test students’ skills in marketing. with the professionals.
to be the one where the admissions
“These young people are limited only by their “It was a lot of fun!” says gavri. “we came
counselors say, ‘Wow, look at this one!’”
imagination,” says marcella norwood, associate up with ways that the theme park
And a portfolio doesn’t have to be
professor in the department of human development could better market itself. It was
simply a collection of papers. Artists
and consumer sciences at the university of Houston cool, because I never knew what
and photographers use their portfolios
and former president of the board of directors for happened behind the scenes
to provide visual examples of their
International deca, Inc. and the ways they market the
work, and so can you. Do you have
“for example,” norwood says, “they decide what theme parks.”
photos of someone giving you an
type of competitive event they want to participate in: In addition to projects organized
award? Put them in. How about a video
some events are role-playing and others also include in high schools and interesting field
of a performance? Include it on a DVD.
a written ‘manual.’ If it involves a charity, the students trips, deca and its business partners
Do you have experience in Web design?
decide which charity to benefit, complete the project, award hundreds of thousands of dollars in
Make an online portfolio to showcase
write it up, and submit the manual for judging at the scholarships to member students each year.
what you can do.
local, district, and state level.” To learn more, visit www.texasdeca.org.
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