Successful LEIGH-ders Program Completes Seventh Year
According to the New York Post, one third of Americans don’t know what they want to do after high school. However, with a unique program offered by Leigh Community Schools, LHS students have a better idea of what career they may be interested in.
This would be the “Successful LEIGH-ders” program, which is part of the Careers class Mrs. Megan Hillen has been teaching since 2015. The class is one semester long.
Throughout the course, students explore careers in all of the various career clusters. Then, as part of the “Successful LEIGH-ders” program, Leigh alumni come to the classroom each year to talk about their careers and answer high schooler’s question. The class is for sophomores, but any juniors and seniors interested in the specific career field the speaker is from are invited to come sit in with the sophomores to listen to the speakers.
Since the beginning of the program, a whopping 73 Leigh grads have come back to their alma mater to speak to students. Some living out of state who are not able to make it in person are able to Zoom with the students instead.
“The Successful Leigh-ders program has served as an excellent opportunity for our students at Leigh to connect with alumni who represent a variety of career fields. We enjoy hearing from Leigh alumni and learning about their educational and career paths. Thank you to all those who have visited the exploratory careers classroom to share their stories and life advice,” Mrs. Hillen said.
LCS Superintendent Cole Fischer said, “As they explore their own future careers, our students are very lucky to have opportunities to hear first-hand from people from all varieties of career fields. It is neat to be able to offer real examples of what students can go on to do with a diploma from Leigh High School. The number of speakers who have come back over the years, some multiple times, is a testament to the pride they have for graduating from Leigh.”
This year, nine speakers visited the class, and each speaker represented a different career cluster. Thank you to all of the 2022-23 speakers, and to everyone who has made this program a success over the years!
Shane Belohrad (Class of 1986) - Finance
Jeni Riechmuth (Class of 1990) - Health Science
Ben Herink (Class of 2001) - Government and Public Administration
Marissa Pelan (Class of 2013) - Human Services
Tricia (Went) Mullenhoff (Class of 1979) - Hospitality and Tourism
Nicole (Motycka) Swanson (Class of 1990) - Marketing and Business Management
Jordan Brabec (Class of 2002) - Education and Training
Cort Pokorney (Class of 2019) - Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
Trae Machmueller (Class of 2007) - Military - Navy