is an elementary school Comprehensive, Competency-based Guidance Program (CCBG) with a strong school to work focus. It was developed over the course of many years of experience working with elementary school-aged children. It was successfully implemented at Longfellow Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, in the fall of 1996 with the help of a grant through the East Valley School to Work Initiative (EVSTWI). In 1997, Roots & Wings was chosen as a best practices model by EVSTWI and was included in the Arizona Department of Education's Successful Strategies that same year. In 1998, Roots & Wings was included as the elementary school component of the High Technology Industry Cluster School to Work grant (HTIC/STW). With funding from the Arizona Department of Commerce, Roots & Wings has been expanded in certain grade levels at seven east valley elementary schools. With additional funding from a Maricopa County Juvenile Court Delinquency Prevention grant, part of the Roots & Wings program has been expanded to five additional east valley schools in high juvenile crime-rate zip code areas.

The Roots portion of the program includes all of those things which can help elementary school-aged children to be more successful in their present educational experience. The Roots also help young children to develop important attitudes, skills, and habits regarding education and work which will serve them well as students today and as adults tomorrow.

The Wings are the many and varied career awareness (K-6) and simple career exploration (4-6) activities which can be tailor-made to fit the needs of each individual elementary school. The value in presenting the Wings part of the program is that it exposes every child to a wide variety of potential future careers. Elementary school is a time when children can very comfortably experiment with the question "Who will I be when I grow up?" without the pressure of having to make an immediate choice. The Roots help our children to be firmly grounded. The Wings help them fly on the wings of their dreams.

* Roots & Wings is one model, which may be used to initiate comprehensive, competency-based guidance at the elementary school bevel. Roots & Wings has a strong school to work focus, but is not merely a school to work program. In schools, which have an elementary school counselor, Roots & Wings can be used as the central focus of that school's CCBG program. In schools, which do not have an elementary school counselor, much of the program may be used following a principal/site council model of governance with trained teachers delivering the curriculum component.

Kathleen R. Buntin, Roots & Wings, 1999

The main organizing structure for the students in the Roots & Wings program is the individual student portfolio. Each portfolio contains the following artifacts:

• Student Education Plan or SEP

  SEPs are individual goal-setting plans, which help the students to recognize and celebrate their strengths and to set and monitor goals in areas where they wish to improve. The SEP should be shared with parents during fall and spring parent /teacher conferences. (Grades 1-6)

• Life Skills Lessons

  These are developmentally appropriate, sequential lessons on such topics as responsibility, respect, communication, problem solving and decision making, choices and consequences, and so forth. Students track their own progress on an individual record-keeping page in their portfolios. (Grades K-6)

• Academic Best Portfolios contain plastic sleeves - - one for each year of school (grades K-6). During the year, students choose samples of what they consider to be their best work and place those samples in that year's sleeve. Roots & Wings has a strong academic focus. Students see the relevance of academic study -- the 4th "R" of education --by encouraging a focus on life-long learning in the academic skill areas and by integrating/reinforcing academic skills during the life skills lessons themselves.

• Interest Inventories and Career Research -- Intermediate-aged students (Grades 4-6) begin to look at areas of personal interest as they relate to possible future careers. Fourth grade students take a very simple interest inventory called Explore the World of Work (E-WOW) and follow that with some very simple research. Sixth grade students take a more comprehensive inventory called the Explorer. They do more in-depth research, including the use of computers, videos, books, interviews, etc. They then write formal career essays or career reports. Sixth grade students also use their interest inventory results and their research during junior high school registration to help guide their choices of electives.

• Career Awareness -- There are many possibilities for giving children wide exposure to a variety of careers. These include such things as guest speakers, video-based exploration programs, hands-on career kits, parent volunteers, field trips, career days and career fairs, etc.

• Business Partners -- Schools are encouraged to work with community
  businesses in synergistic partnerships which benefit both parties.

!It goes without saying that standards are important. They are the benchmark by which one can measure individual accomplishments as well as program success. Roots & Wings aligns with many important sets of standards.

-- Roots & Wings teaches to all of the national career standards proposed by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOTICE), elementary school level. These standards are recognized by most nationally based school to work and career guidance programs.

-- Roots & Wings teaches to the national guidance standards proposed by the American School Counselor Association.

-- Roots & Wings teaches to many of the Arizona Workplace Skills standards proposed by the Arizona Department of Education in 1997.

-- Roots & Wings reinforces many of the academic standards adapted by the Arizona Department of Education in 1998. These include standards in reading, written language, and mathematics measured by Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS).

Standards-- Roots & Wings teaches to most of the local guidance standards accepted by the Mesa Public Schools Guidance Department. The format of the program also complies with the MPS Board of Education-adopted Comprehensive, Competency-based Guidance model of school guidance and counseling.

-- Through its flexible format, Roots & Wings integrates well with Mesa Schools science and social sciences programs as well as reinforcing skills taught in reading, written language, and mathematics. The program also is coordinated with Boeing's Delta Partnership, particularly through the utilization of key resource businesses, organizations and individuals through Delta's "Areas of Expertise." It is a natural precursor for MPS secondary career guidance and career pathways emphasis.

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