Member News

Interview with Karl Liedtka and Bill Giovino


   The Chapter 339 Plan requires all school districts in Pennsylvania to have a mandated K-12 career counseling plan. According to Karl Liedtka, the supervisor of the K-12 counseling programs and a school counselor at Lebanon High School, this mandate will finally allow school counselors to do their jobs. Before, Liedtka explained, counselors in various school districts would do a number of miscellaneous tasks, from disciplinary action to testing.
   However, with the Chapter 339 mandate, Liedtka stated that Lebanon High School is now able to incorporate more career counseling and preparedness lessons. These include short classes on interviewing and resume writing. While the school is still required to administer Keystone Exams, the testing also frees up time for these career exercises.
   “We had about 20 hours throughout the school year that we used for career development,” Bill Giovino, Lebanon High School’s principal, stated. “These are hours that we used more effectively.”
   “Our lessons are set up so that students can just jump right in,” Liedtka explained. “If a student has to be away for testing or something like that, they can start without missing anything.”
   The high school offered a financial aid program during the year, which resulted in more students completing their FASFA, Liedtka said. Compass Mark, a local nonprofit specializing in youth services, also came into the school to host leadership seminars and team building activities. Liedtka also implemented “Blitz Lessons” into the curriculum. These short and quick yet essential lessons cover such necessary topics as how to do a proper handshake. Another “Blitz Lesson” topic is how to say “no,” which could be translated into how to say “no” to drugs, to obligations which might negatively affect time management, etc. Liedtka also conducted a life skills lesson on how to handle stress.
   What’s the next step for Lebanon High School’s career development program?
   Liedtka explained how in the early fall the school will hold an advisory council to help decide what the goals are for the program. The school will require a one-year commitment from those participating in the council.
   After the advisory council meets, the next step will be setting up and implementing the shadowing programs, community-based experiences, and internships and getting students to fill these opportunities. These programs range from students shadowing business leaders for one day, to students working alongside business employees for an entire trimester in an internship setting.
   “We can do a number of different things with our schedule since we’re broken up into 12 weeks with three classes,” Liedtka said. “We have space available for students to go out and do internships. We had a number of kids go out and do shadows this past year. We also created access within our school so that students can do work within the office.”
   Completing an internship program, a shadow experience, or some form of employment will soon be a graduation requirement at Lebanon High School. This year’s sophomores will be the first class required to complete one of these programs in order to graduate.
   Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce members have a number of opportunities to get involved with the Lebanon High School’s career development program. Businesses can invite students to visit their place of work for a shadow experience or a more hands-on internship experience.
   Businessmen and women can sign up to do classroom presentations or take part in career clusters, which are smaller roundtable discussions comprised of various businesses. Chamber members can also participate in mock interviews to help train students how to properly interview for a job. This year, the mock interviews will take place on December 9. Liedtka and Giovino are looking for business leaders to come to the school to help conduct these practice interviews.
   Another program coming up at the end of this year is the Futures Seminar on November 10. The Futures Seminar is a formal dinner designed to connect students with mentors. At the Futures Seminar, students can start networking through facilitated conversation to begin building connections with the local business community. Liedtka and Giovino are likewise looking for business leaders to participate in this year’s Futures Seminar.
   Anyone interested in helping to grow the Lebanon High School’s career development program by participating in any of the opportunities they offer to students can contact Karl Liedtka at 717-273-9391 or at kliedtka@lebanon.k12.pa.us. Bill Giovino can also be contacted at wgiovino@lebanon.k12.pa.us.