INDIANAPOLIS — One of the aims of RTV6's year-long Hiring Hoosiers project is to highlight programs in place steering our young ones toward the careers they want to pursue.
A free resource, available to Indianapolis families, is helping whittle down so many school options.
Monique Anderson can vouch for the effectiveness of Enroll Indy. The program helped the Indianapolis mother find the perfect fit for her children's long-term goals in the workforce. All she wants is for her kids to be happy, healthy and successful doing what they want to do.
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"My son wanted to be an engineer so he wants to get into building and design and construction," Anderson said.
Anderson said her daughter wants to pursue politics, and therefore law and public policy is the path for her.
When the Andersons moved to Indianapolis from Connecticut, researching the school systems and the programs and the choices seemed so overwhelming for the family. That's where the Enroll Indy program, founded by Caitlin Hannon, comes into play.
Hannon works with her staff at Enroll Indy to find the right fit for each child's long-term goals.
"So a family can come in to us and say, 'Hey, my son is really into science and math and kind of wants to do something with engineering. What do you have?'" Hannon said. "Well we can refer them to the engineering pathway in IPS or the Purdue Polytech High School."
Enroll Indy works with Indianapolis Public Schools and local charter schools, providing a one-stop shop for parents just like Anderson. In fact, the agency helped more than 20,000 families last school calendar year.
Select schools around Indianapolis offer career path academies. For example, George Washington High School on Indianapolis's west side offers a Manufacturing, Engineering & Logistics academy. The school also offers a Business & Finance academy.
Shortridge High School on the city's north side has a Visual & Performance Arts academy.
You'll find a Health Science academy at Crispus Attucks High School, just to name a few.
"We certainly have heard successes just getting started from some parents who worked with us, applied to a program and got their kids on a pathway to a career that they're really enjoying," Hannon said.
LEARN MORE | Enroll Indy school finder
Anderson's son and daughter both attend Arsenal Tech and they are enrolled in two different academies. Alexandra, 15, is pursuing the school's Law & Public Policy academy. Her brother, Joel, 14, is in an academy steering him to a career in engineering.
Mom couldn't be happier.
"As parents having used Enroll Indy and getting them both in the same school in the paths that they want to go," Anderson said. "And that's what we want for our kids — to put them on that right path, set them up, so when they graduate, they'll be able to do what they need to do to fly."
