The recent trends in 2025 have more and more people changing their careers. Too much work, not interesting enough, and a number of other reasons. In previous years students have benefited tremendously from mentorship class which helps students to decipher career pathways earlier. 

Mrs. Yetter teaches the mentorship course and helps to provide guidance to students deciding what they want to study in college and have career options. Overall, Westmoreland County has a small number of mentorship programs in high school only offering three or four programs. As scheduling rolls around this course proves to be a strong contender for anyone looking to get hands on experience. 

The goal is to help students with a professional mentor in the community based on their career interest. The student then goes to that mentors workplace to shadow, observe, help out with different projects and tasks that are appropriate. “It’s like a mini internship. It’s basically getting their feet wet with being in that environment for a career of their choosing. It’s really cool for students who know exactly what they want to do after high school. This is a great first stepping stone for them to get into that environment and get some experience but it’s also good for students who are kind of still unsure of what they want to do after high school,” said Yetter. 

Many high school students deal with confusion concerning their next step. Mentorship helps students pick from what they enjoy and what they don’t, to ultimately make their career choice even if it changes. “Maybe they have two or three interests and they want to decide what direction they want to go then well pair them up with multiple people and they’ll get to go to multiple places and get a feel for yes I like this or no I don’t like this. Either way its a good way to see things now while they are still in high school,” said Yetter. 

“I had 20 students in the fall and it’s gone up every year. This is the fourth year we’ve offered the class and every year it’s grown more and more. Fall tends to be heavy with a lot of students and our spring semester tends to be much lighter. Yes we want numbers to get bigger but you also have to be academically in good standing and good standing with behavior and attendance,” shared Yetter. “You have to be a student who’s willing to show up on time and have good attendance, be willing to go out into the community, and be with somebody you don’t know. You also need to have professional behavior and professional etiquette because you are leaving the school building,” said Yetter.  

Every student strives to gain quality experience before they jump into a career path. Mentorship allows students to get the hands-on experience they need. “Hands-on experience I would say, is definitely the primary goal. There’s a lot of soft skills as well. We cover workplace behavior, how to have a conversation with someone and how to shake hands. You’re acting as an employee or intern in that place so sometimes there’s a a dress code you have to abide by so you really get the full experience learning those important soft skills and that experience as well,’’ said Yetter. 

This course offers many different options for a wide variety of career fields. Not only can you get experience in the healthcare field, but much more.”It can be any career field. Some are easier than others but not all places are always willing to welcome a high school student. That depends on a variety of safety and privacy reasons. Whether it’s business, healthcare, or teaching those are the popular ones. We’ve done environmental science, we’ve done finance but we do offer a variety,” said Yetter.

Mentors put so much time and effort into giving back to the community. At the end of the year the school hosts a breakfast to celebrate the help and leadership provided.  “At the end of every school year we host a mentor thank you event. It’s been a luncheon in the past but this year we’re switching to a breakfast. We invited all the community members who were mentors for the class. We invite them into the school for a little lunch or breakfast along with the mentorship kids as a thank you,” said Yetter. “They are obviously volunteering their time and helping our students so it’s kind of a nice accommodating thing we do at the end of the school year.”