For several years, Hilary Wimmer of Mountain Range High School (CO) has had students complete portfolios as part of her High School of Business™ (HSB) program. The value of this is often confirmed by alumni who tell her that they used the portfolio during their jobs search, college application process, and scholarship application process. In each HSB course, students complete a piece of the portfolio (e.g., they create a résumé during the 10th grade Principles of Business course and a final portfolio submission in their 12th grade Business Strategies course).
Also included in the portfolio is an “Examples” section where final project deliverables, such as a business plan, are uploaded. Wimmer encourages students to upload projects from other courses as well, such as writing assignments from ELA courses. Senior year, students update their résumé and submit their completed multi-page portfolio, which counts as a grade in the HSB Business Strategies course. HSB teachers, find complete instructions for integrating a portfolio into your HSB program on the “Principles of Business” page of the HSB Wiki.
Wimmer recommends Google Sites for portfolios, but there are many web services that could be used. In a recent article in Techniques Magazine, a culinary teacher recommended CTEfolio digital portfolios. Find out what works best for your students and help them prove they are ready for college and career!