Barbers Hill Independent School District
Mont Belvieu, Texas
It鈥檚 an early March morning and a group of fifth graders can picture red carpets, popping flashbulbs, and the iconic Hollywood sign in the distance. However, when these students look out the windows of their classroom, they don鈥檛 see palm trees and crashing waves, but flat terrain and prairie grasslands. That鈥檚 because they鈥檙e not located in sunny California, but instead 1,500 miles away, in Barbers Hill Independent School District, Texas. They鈥檙e using 扒哥黑料鈥檚 Career Connect to chat with Bianca Engel, Director of Technical Management for Warner Bros. Discovery, about how she produces special effects, and she鈥檚 creating an image so vivid that students feel transported to the glitz and glamour of the west coast.听
Barbers Hill ISD Discovers Career Connect
Barbers Hill ISD,听a听扒哥黑料 2026 District of the Year听located on the outskirts of Houston, is a close-knit community of 鈥淟ifelong Eagles.鈥澨齌his means students feed in from听the early childhood center, through two elementary, intermediate, and middle schools, and then meet back together in听the high听school. An 鈥淎鈥� rated district with a 98% graduation rate, educators in Barbers Hill ISD work tirelessly to meet student needs.听
Barbers Hill is a longtime partner of 扒哥黑料, but they knew that each year introduced new offerings and updates. In 2024, Elaina Kloecker, Technology Integration Coach for Intermediate Schools, was working with her colleagues to unearth all those new features. 鈥�Experience is so much more than just videos,鈥� she shared. 鈥淪o, we wound up taking the time to really dig in, and kept saying to each other, 鈥楧id you see this article? Did you see this interactive?鈥� Then we saw the blue button for Career Connect.鈥� That single click opened a world of possibilities for students.
Kloecker quickly fell in love with听Career Connect, which allows听educators to bring professionals from a wide range of industries directly into their classrooms. Through these interactions, students learn firsthand about different occupations, the paths professionals took to reach their careers, and how the skills鈥痵tudents are developing today may apply to their own futures.
Connecting Readiness to Real Careers
Barbers Hill ISD takes career readiness seriously, with a goal of 100% CCMR, meaning college, career, and military ready.
Kloecker听recognized how听readily听Career Connect could align with curriculum and standards already being taught. She听helped match an energy conservationist with听sixth graders听studying conservation, a financial risk manager for a unit on financial literacy, and, of course, Bianca Engel at Warner Brothers,听who听enjoyed the session as much as the students.
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Engel praised the program, saying, 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun talking to students, a group with fresh eyes and brains, about the stuff I talk about every single day to听jaded听adults who don鈥檛听always see the听wonder or whimsy in what we do.鈥�
Engel did not follow a traditional career path and shares that fact with students. 鈥淪ometimes there are twists and turns!听You don鈥檛听have to have it all figured out right now,鈥� she said.听She encouraged Kloecker鈥檚 class to explore and learn about choices now, at a young age.
Turning Enthusiasm into Training
Kloecker听and her colleagues have had such a positive experience with Career听Connect,听it led them to conduct a professional development day听to听help other Barbers Hill educators get acquainted with the program. They brought in a Career Connect volunteer,听Charu Madan听of Capital One,听who walked teachers through听what a Career Connect听experience听with students would look like.听鈥淪he was phenomenal!鈥� said Kloecker.听Madan听shared with听educators everything she would go over with students, including her personal career path听and听what her day as a听Senior Project Manager听looks like, with plenty of time for the (inevitable) student questions.听Now, teachers are ready to head into the new school year with another tool in their belt to help make learning meaningful.听
Quick Facts
District Details
- 9 schools serving 7,000+ students in PreK-12
Three Takeaways About Career Connect in Barbers Hill
- Career readiness starts early, in grades 4-6, supporting Barbers Hill ISD’s goal of 100% CCMR.
- It plugs directly into existing curriculum, from conservation units to financial literacy lessons.
- Teachers are trained and ready to bring it into classrooms this year, after a professional development day gave them a firsthand look at the student experience.
