In Education for Employment at Hayfield Secondary, students are offered three industry certifications in the respective order given, based on what certifications students have achieved in their previous CTE courses. The program is very fortunate that Fairfax County’s CTE central office pays to train facilitators and pays for one certification per student each school year.  The OSHA CareerSafe program is $12 per student and National Retail Federation’s Customer Service and Sales certifications are $50 per student. They are as follows:

1. CareerSafe online safety course- 5 hour online program that addresses the need for safety training of young workers in order to prevent injury to self and others in the workplace. Research from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health indicate frightening statistics—every five days, one teenage is killed on the job.  That accounts for approximately 70 work-related deaths among teens each year.  Additionally 200,000 young people are injured on the job with 70,000 of these young workers requiring emergency room treatment.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the statement that “younger workers continue to have the highest rate of work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses.”

After each module the students must successfully pass a brief assessment with 70% accuracy to move on to the next module.  This safety credentialing allows young workers to develop a workplace safety mindset and gain marketable skills for employment and job advancement.

2. Customer Service Certification- FCPS teamed with the National Retail Federation (NRF) to offer our students educational training based on national skill standards that reflects what retailers across the U.S. agree is needed to succeed and grow in the retail industry.  The “Providing Personalized Customer Service” training is part of a Retail Smarts series to develop retail skills and set a higher standard for workers in this career field. Although this program was originally developed for people only in retail sales, 90% of the information given is useful in any industry that values customer service.  A quote used with the EFE students is, “Every job is a customer service job.”  The knowledge acquired from this training is transferable from one job and career to another. This instructor facilitated and student self-paced learning focuses on 4 main components of providing quality service:  getting to know the customer, meeting the customers’ needs, building a continuing relationship, and going the extra mile in creating customer loyalty.  Upon completion, students are required to take a 90 minute online assessment created by the NRF to receive industry licensure.  A practice assessment is available as a student pre- and post-assessment on Blackboard.  Throughout this unit of study, students may choose to access the test unlimited times.

3. Sales Certification- Same format as the above developed by the NRF offering students advanced educational training in marketing and sales techniques.  Only four of the sixty Education for Employment students are preparing for this industry certification. Of the four students, only one is an EFE level 2 student; the other three passed Customer Service in Marketing class.

Professional data collection of the Fairfax County Public Schools PLT account houses all of the workshops/courses taken locally over the past three years.  See the PLT transcript attached below.  Also included is a personal resume and a photo from the Family and Consumer Sciences Department "2009-10 Opening of School Showcase" for students to meet the staff.