By: John Mullin, Learning Blade State Manager
From building submarines to tackling epidemics, Learning Blade missions immerse students in real-world challenges that spark curiosity and unlock pathways to STEM, CS, and CTE careers they may have never imagined.
An Easy, Fully Funded Way to Power Up Career Exploration in Your School
As a former administrator, I know firsthand that principals are always looking for resources that not only engage our students but also help them prepare for the future. I’m thrilled to share a powerful, fully funded platform available for every school in Michigan: Learning Blade. Thanks to our partnership with the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base Program (MIB) and BlueForge Alliance, this high-quality, comprehensive tool is a direct investment in Michigan’s future workforce and comes at no cost to you or your school.
Why Learning Blade? It’s all about connection!
Today, it’s not uncommon to hear a student say they want to be a YouTuber, a TikToker, or a professional athlete. While those fields hold undeniable appeal, they represent a tiny fraction of the world’s careers. Many of our students simply don’t know what else is out there. This is where Learning Blade comes in. It’s a STEM, computer science, and CTE career exploration platform that connects learning to real life and helps students discover a world of possibilities they never knew existed.
The platform provides thirteen missions with over 500 online and offline activities. Each mission puts students at the center of a story – like building a submarine, stopping a flu outbreak, or dealing with the aftermath of a cyberattack. As they work through the mission, they learn about five different teammates and five different tools or technologies necessary to be successful within those careers. This immersive approach makes the content stick, sparking curiosity and helping students identify new interests.
A Resource That Supports Your School and Your Staff
One of the biggest wins of Learning Blade is how it helps support administrators and counselors with the process of completing students’ Educational Development Plans (EDPs), a required step for every student in Michigan. Learning Blade makes that mandate a meaningful part of the learning process. The platform helps students to not only identify potential career interests but also see how those interests connect to their coursework and the world of work. By using Learning Blade, the EDP becomes more than just a box to check – it becomes a living document that is genuinely informed by a student’s exploration and self-discovery.
To make implementation seamless, Learning Blade integrates with popular single sign-on providers like Clever, Schoology, and Classlink. This ensures that teachers and students can log in with the platforms they already use, making access simple and secure.
Learning Blade aligns with Michigan’s Career Development Model, showcasing careers in twelve of the seventeen career clusters. Whether you want to use it as a standalone resource in a careers class or integrate it into core subjects, Learning Blade is flexible and easy to implement. The online lessons are just 10-15 minutes long and are aligned to English, math, science, and social studies standards, making it simple for any teacher to use.
Seeing is Believing: Learning Blade in Action
This past summer, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Janell Maszatics, a phenomenal teacher in Michigan, to talk about her experience using Learning Blade in her classroom. I saw firsthand the excitement on her face and the engagement of her students, which was a powerful reminder of what makes this platform so effective. The way she uses the resource is a perfect example of how you can effortlessly integrate career exploration into your school’s curriculum.
In our conversation, which you can watch here: Learning Blade Interview with Michigan’s Janell Maszatics, Janell shares how she uses Learning Blade to spark her students’ interest in fields they never knew existed. She talks about the platform’s versatility, showing how easy it is to select specific missions that tie directly into her lessons. I highly encourage you to take ten minutes to watch this interview; it’s a great demonstration of the resource’s power in a real Michigan classroom.
Power Up Your Career Readiness
I encourage you to explore this fantastic resource for your school. Please take a moment to:
- Sign up for a free account and check out the missions for yourself at learningblade.com/MI.
- Request a professional development session so I can walk you through the platform and help address your school’s specific needs.
- Share this resource with your career and technical education (CTE) teachers, guidance counselors, and core academic staff.
- Additional resources: Informational Flyer and Beneath the Waves Building Submarines Flyer
Together, we can help our students not only discover their passions but also connect them to a future of limitless possibilities.