Want career, school advice? Check here

Are you looking for early help in planning a college or work career? Or maybe you just need help with tomorrow's homework?

The University of Missouri-St. Louis' Regional Center for Education & Work (RCEW) has something for you. This help extends to kids in area elementary and middle schools.

Some opportunities come only if your local school or community group signs up. But, there's plenty of free information available to individual kids. Especially homework help.

All you need is a computer with Internet access.

So far, nine St. Louis area middle schools have joined as members of the RCEW's Pathfinder program. The schools are:

• Barnwell Middle School in the Francis Howell district;
• Holman Middle School in the Pattonville district;
• Lansdowne Middle School in East St. Louis, Ill.;
• Meramec Valley Middle School in Franklin Co.;
• Normandy Middle School in St. Louis Co.;
• Riverview Gardens Central Middle in St. Louis Co.;
• Riverview Gardens East Middle in St. Louis Co.;
• Saeger Middle School in Francis Howell district, and
• Wydown Middle School in St. Louis Co.

In addition, two community organizations that work with middle schoolers are members. They are GEAR UP, ST. LOUIS and Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley, Inc.

Rosanne Vrugtman is the Pathfinder coordinator for the RCEW. She is working to sign up more schools and organizations. Your school could contact her at (314) 516-4349 or send her an e-mail at vrugtmanr@msx.umsl.edu.

She said, "Pathfinder has lots of information helpful to all kids, not just those at member schools and organizations. That's especially true if you're looking for homework help."

You can get free access to the Pathfinder website at: stlpathfinder.communityos.org. After clicking on Pathfinder, you need to click the Additional Resources circle at the bottom of the page. Then, click on St. Louis Pathfinder Resources.

(The links for Employer, Educator/Youth Professionals, Students and Community Participants require individual passwords for access. These you get from member organizations.)

The Resources tab has lots of links. Pathfinder has sorted the links that are younger kids. One middle school link, Homework Central, has 150,000 links to 10,000 subjects.

That's a bunch of links. But they are divided into easy-to-search categories, covering just about any homework subject you need.

If your school or group is a Pathfinder member, you get ways to develop your own personal resume, college plan and career path goal. Also, kids as young as middle schoolers get chances to get hands-on information on various career choices.

Ms. Vrugtman said sometimes a prospective employer contacts an individual kid with an internship, a job-shadowing opportunity or even a paying, part-time job.

For instance, she said a St. Louis County hospital has contacted a middle school student who indicated an interest in a medical career. The hospital had an opening for a junior volunteer on its Care Team that provides non-technical care for patients.

Currently, Pathfinder has 22 such opportunities where middle school kids can get career information and on-the-job experience. They range from the medical field to carpentry and even theater performing. Vrugtman is seeking more on-the-job opportunities for kids.

One older Pathfinder student recently was profiled in St. Louis Commerce magazine. The article told about this high school student's first experience in the medical field. She had developed a personal profile and resume on the Pathfinder site. The student wants to be an emergency room doctor.

The hospital contacted her right through Pathfinder. She got a chance at a paying job while she was getting her first medical field experience.

Ms. Vrugtman said it's never too early to start developing a resume. The Pathfinder program lets you update your background material as you go along.

Another valuable Pathfinder feature helps kids planning for college. You can search for the college you want. Then, you can keep track to make sure your middle and high school classes are the right ones for your college major.

Why not check out the free portion of Pathfinder today. And then ask at your school about joining the RCEW and get individualized career and college help.