Career Development in Elementary School

It is important to explore careers in elementary school. Often times, students only know about the careers that their parents, grandparents, or relatives have, and don't know a lot about other opportunities. Through schoolwide career development activities, students begin to explore the variety of career options.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has Career Education and Work Standards that support intentional career development opportunities for students in grades K-12. At Moraine Elementary, students in grades K-5 begin to explore the career clusters, have opportunities to ask adults about their careers, and learn more about themselves and their work preferences. As students get older, we begin to focus on individual interests and strengths, and then learn about jobs based on those factors.

In the 2025-26 school year, Moraine Elementary's 4th and 5th grade, attended Junior Achievement's Biztown which is a financial literacy and workforce readiness program. Student "worked" in one of the storefronts, earned a paycheck, and managed their own checking account for the day. Below is a slideshow of some photos from this experience.