The Mission of ProjectDREAMS

Mission: ProjectDREAMS helps students to Develop Relevant Educational Experiences And Meaningful Skills as they discover their future path.

ProjectDREAMS is a graduation requirement that every student must fulfill in order to receive their diploma.  The purpose of ProjectDREAMS is to provide opportunities for all students to explore, develop, and pursue individual goals and dreams.

ProjectDREAMS incorporates a wealth of experiences that a student completes both in and out of the traditional school day. The breadth and depth of these experiences are limitless. However, a student’s experience will include the following major components:

•       Web-based programs, like NAVIANCE, aid in the exploration of opportunities.
•       Advisory sessions designed toward students’ exploration and development of post-high school plans.
•       Robust curricula through which students can tailor a schedule that helps them explore and develop their future path.
•       The Job Shadowing Program along with opportunities for internships and cooperative education allow students to develop and pursue their own ideas of vocation.
•       Career Development class and Mock Interviews will give students necessary tools to pursue their dreams.
•       The ProjectDREAMS electronic portfolio and oral presentation will all help to document the student’s progress toward pursuit of their individual goals and dreams.

While it is both important and helpful to explain what ProjectDREAMS is, it is equally helpful to understand what ProjectDREAMS is not. The ProjectDREAMS program is not aimed at forcing students to make a definitive career choice while in high school. The focus is on exploration and development of career interests. After completing a four-year college degree is a terrible time to find out that you do not enjoy your career path. Nor is the first semester of college or the first week on a job site a helpful time to realize that one did not take the appropriate or necessary classes in high school. Encouraging students to think realistically and logically about careers that match their interests, abilities, and values helps to ensure that students have every opportunity to take advantage of the many resources that are available to them while they are students at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School. A student who realizes a career is not a good personal fit is equally as successful as the student who is validated in their potential vocational choices. Again, the emphasis here is awareness and exploration, not final, concrete decision making.

ProjectDreams Graduation Requirements

•       Completion of 3 job shadows in career areas that students are interested in pursuing
•       Organize an electronic portfolio of career related items such as a resume and cover letter
•       Deliver an oral presentation senior year to a panel of teachers highlighting the experience

The ProjectDREAMS office is here to support each student through this process.  Please let us know how we can help!

Mrs. Leilani Reeder

Graduation Project Coordinator

[email protected]

717-691-2476