Mentors
Does your mentee dream of being an astronaut? How about a social media director or a surgeon? Maybe she wonders what it would be like to be a computer scientist, a conductor, or a car designer. Career Girls role models will help her discover a world of possibilities.
The two of you can sit down and check out Career Girls’ high-quality, no-cost resources available right here. Career Girls is ad-free — creating a distraction-free space to make the most of your time together. Plus, we think you'll agree: the inspiring women role models you'll meet through Career Girls will fire up your mentee's imagination about what her future can be.
With more than 600 role models working in hundreds of different careers, you may be wondering how to get started. There is lots to explore, and no one right way to use Career Girls. But a great place to begin is with the Empowerment Lessons.
Using the Empowerment Lessons
Empowerment Lessons are a special series of videos and educational resources designed to support mentors in promoting empowerment and independence in their mentees. Career-Based Empowerment Lessons are centered around career exploration, and Skill-Based Empowerment Lessons focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) with key topics such as teamwork, confidence, communication, leadership, financial literacy, and the importance of integrity.
Each lesson centers around a short video clip that features real-world role models who share straight-to-the-point career insights and advice, making the lessons an ideal jumping-off point for meaningful and lasting learning experiences. These videos are paired with ready-to-use educational resources that build on essential concepts.
To get started, just follow a few simple steps:
- Choose an Empowerment Lesson. Each Career Girls Empowerment Lesson video is about two minutes and focuses on a different topic. You can use the Empowerment Lessons in any order that best meets your mentee's needs and interests. For example, if one of your goals is to help your mentee develop positive peer relationships, Choosing Friends might be a good place to start.
- Download the Corresponding Resources. Each Empowerment Lesson has a corresponding set of resources accessible on each video page (see example) and can also be accessed individually through the Resources module at the bottom of this page. Download and print the PDFs you'd like to use.
- View the Video with Your Mentee. It may be helpful to preview the video first, noting information that might be particularly relevant to your mentee or vocabulary you might want to review. For example, with “Be Confident,” discuss what confidence means: Is confidence something you get all at once or something that builds? What are some things you feel confident about? How did you develop confidence in this area? What would you like to feel more confident about?
Use the corresponding resources to take the learning further:
- Independent Learning Guide: (see example) This guide is designed to engage girls in digging deeper into concepts introduced in the videos. Your mentee might complete this guide on her own, but you'll find that it's also a great tool for sparking meaningful conversations that can have a lasting impact.
- Classroom Lesson Plan: (see example) While designed for school settings, this resource is also suitable for use in other educational settings, including mentoring, to guide a more in-depth "before, during, and after" learning experience.
- Fun Page Activity: (see example) Guide your mentee in completing this fun activity to further connect what she learned in the video to her own life.
Use the "Positively Empowered!" Certificate. Goal-setting is important in school and beyond. The Positively Empowered! Certificate provides an easy and concrete way to help girls set personal goals for developing the skills and knowledge they need to go after their dreams — and track their progress.
Using the Career Exploration Tools
Along with ready-to-use Empowerment Lessons, Career Girls offers built-in career exploration tools to engage girls in expanding career awareness, imagining what's possible, and taking important steps to plan for their futures.
The free Career Quiz is a fun place to start. This quick and easy quiz helps girls discover careers that may be a match for their skills and interests, with links to role models who can help them learn more. Girls who are natural problem-solvers, for example, can meet Makeda Keegan, an IT Systems Manager. Makeda encourages girls not to be afraid of software and coding. More important than being good at math, she explains, is being "curious, enthusiastic, and thorough."
You and your mentee can also explore by Career Clusters, such as STEM, Health Sciences, and Finance. Or, let them jump right into an A to Z tour of Careers and the Role Models who work in them — from an Accountant to a Zoologist.
Make sure your mentee is aware of our Student Resources. The printable resources promote independence, providing tools you can use with your mentee to set career exploration goals and imagine the future.
Use Our Mentor Resources
Use the Resources module below to find these additional mentor resources:
- Mentors Toolkit. This comprehensive Mentors Toolkit offers activities and additional tips and resources to support more in-depth learning.
- Printable Activities. Print and use activities such as our Career Action Plan, Career Girls Journal, Career Comics, and our Is This a Career for Me Venn diagram.
- Ready-to-Use Scripts. Need something fast and foolproof? Get a discussion started quickly with topics like Friends and Integrity and Leadership and Teamwork.
- Motivational Mini-Posters. Use the Resources module below, or see them all on our Motivational Mini-Poster page.
Resources
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Strategic Thinking: Smart Choices: Fun Page Activity
This activity invites students to further explore concepts from the Strategic Thinking: Smart Choices Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, soft skills, skill-based, skill based, strategy, rebus puzzle(57.59 KB, pdf) -
Strategic Thinking: Smart Choices: Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick-start, discussion-based group learning, as well as students who are independently exploring the Strategic Thinking: Smart Choices Empowerment Video. Keywords: independent learning guides, ILG, videos, soft skills, skill-based, skill based, strategy(85.11 KB, pdf) -
Stress and Anxiety – Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Stress and Anxiety Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, CLP, videos, skill-based, skill based(143.80 KB, pdf) -
Stress and Anxiety – Fun Page Activity
Use this activity page with students in conjunction with the Stress and Anxiety Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, skill-based, skill based(22.84 KB, pdf) -
Stress and Anxiety – Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick start discussion-based group learning and students who are independently exploring the Stress and Anxiety Empowerment Video. Keywords: independent learning guides, ILG, videos, skill-based, skill based(77.28 KB, pdf) -
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work/Career Girls Facilitator’s Guide
Everything you need to plan for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day with Career Girls on the fourth Thursday in April. "Designed to be more than a career day, the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work program goes beyond the average practice…(1.07 MB, pdf) -
Taking Initiative – Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Taking Initiative Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, CLP, videos, skill-based, skill based(161.77 KB, pdf) -
Taking Initiative – Fun Page Activity
Use this activity page with students in conjunction with the Taking Initiative Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, skill-based, skill based(24.98 KB, pdf) -
Taking Initiative – Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick start discussion-based group learning and students who are independently exploring the Taking Initiative Empowerment Video. Keywords: independent learning guides, ILG, videos, skill-based, skill based(75.08 KB, pdf) -
Technology Careers – Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Technology Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, CLP, videos, career-based, career based, tech, IT(243.09 KB, pdf) -
Technology Careers – Fun Page Activity
Use this activity page with students in conjunction with the Technology Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, career-based, career based, explore, tech, STEM, technologist, IT(34.60 KB, pdf) -
Technology Careers – Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick start discussion-based group learning and students who are independently exploring the Technology Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: independent learning guides, ILG, videos, career-based, career based, explore, tech, IT, technologies(195.74 KB, pdf) -
Time Management: Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Time Management Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, videos, CLP, soft skills, skill-based, skill based, time management, time, management(276.67 KB, pdf) -
Time Management: Fun Page Activity
This activity invites students to further explore concepts from the Time Management Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, soft skills, skill-based, skill based, time management, time, management(217.16 KB, pdf) -
Time Management: Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick-start, discussion-based group learning, as well as students who are independently exploring the Time Management Empowerment Video. independent learning guides, ILG, videos, soft skills, skill-based, skill based, time management, time, management(205.71 KB, pdf) -
Toothpick Bridge – Empowerment Activity
Topic/Theme: Civil Engineering Careers – Use this Empowerment Activity to reinforce the corresponding video and build teamwork and community within your Career Girls Club or other group. Keywords: activities, engineer, STEM(132.32 KB, pdf) -
Visual Arts Careers – Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Visual Arts Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, CLP, videos, career-based, career based, art, painting, photography(250.85 KB, pdf) -
Visual Arts Careers – Fun Page Activity
Use this activity page with students in conjunction with the Visual Arts Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: fun page activities, FPA, videos, career-based, career based, explore, art, painting, photography(22.19 KB, pdf) -
Visual Arts Careers – Independent Learning Guide
This guide is designed to support quick start discussion-based group learning and students who are independently exploring the Visual Arts Careers Empowerment Video. Keywords: independent learning guides, ILG, videos, career-based, career based, explore, art, painting, artist, photographer(203.64 KB, pdf) -
Why Choose STEM – Classroom Lesson Plan
This guide facilitates whole-class and small-group learning with the Why Choose STEM Empowerment Video. Keywords: classroom lesson plans, CLP, videos, career-based, career based(244.19 KB, pdf)
As a youth mentor, you play a vital role in supporting the academic and life success of your mentee. This includes everything from building confidence and learning the importance of integrity to exploring careers and how to prepare for them. That’s quite a range, so where do you and your mentee begin?