Add an Endorsement

Work-Based Learning Coordinator

Program Description

The Work-Based Learning Coordinator (WBLC) program is a six-course sequence (18 graduate credits) designed to meet licensure requirements for candidates who will pursue an endorsement through the AOE Transcript or Peer Review process.

Courses are offered at times and in formats convenient to individuals working in schools, including remote and hybrid formats scheduled over evenings and weekends. Courses can be taken as part of the sequence or independently. All courses are offered through our partner, Vermont State University.

Coursework may also appeal to community-based learning coordinators, guidance and career counselors, educators, job coaches, administrators, and others.

View Timeline & Course Descriptions View Upcoming Courses

Application and Program Requirements

WBLC Licensing Options

Because WBLCs do not function as classroom teachers, the endorsement is one of only a few that an educator can apply for through Transcript or Peer Review without demonstrating mastery of the Core Teaching Competencies.

Individuals can earn the WBLC endorsement as an initial educator license or added endorsement if they already have a Vermont teaching license by applying for either Transcript Review or Peer Review.

Choosing either Transcript Review or Peer Review depends on how much coursework the student already has taken that meets the WBLC competencies and how much-related work experience they have. To determine the best path, please contact Kim McKellar or the AOE Licensing Division.

For those who go through the VT-HEC program, Transcript Review is expedited. College courses taken within the last 10 years are reviewed for mastery of the competencies required for endorsement. Courses may include VT-HEC graduate courses and/or college courses taken at other institutions.

For more information about the program, obtaining a WBLC endorsement, or our WBL courses, please contact program coordinator, Kim McKellar, at [email protected].

Program Timeline + Course Descriptions

View Upcoming Courses

WBLC courses may be taken individually or as a full, six-course graduate sequence. Depending on prior preparation, not all students will need to take all courses; see endorsement guidance above.

Most WBLC courses run once every other year, allowing candidates to complete the full sequence in two years.

To see which competencies are addressed in each of our courses, view our WBL Program Curriculum Competency Map.

Year One, Summer 2024 – Spring 2025

In order to develop legal, safe, and effective work-based learning programs and experiences, school personnel must understand labor and safety laws and practices, sales and marketing, career development strategies, and effective systems for organizing, monitoring and evaluating student learning opportunities with businesses and community partners.

As its primary reference, this course uses the Vermont Agency of Education’s (2017) Vermont Work-Based Learning Manual. This course provides participants with the knowledge base needed to develop a coherent work-based learning program for a school or organization.

The course curriculum is designed to provide participants with the core knowledge base for operating under the Work-Based Learning educator’s license endorsement in the state of Vermont or other position that allows for the implementation of some or all areas of study.

This course provides the theory and tools needed to engage students in their own career development while helping them find meaning and relevance in their high school experiences. Candidates explore the necessary steps for career planning and design practical applications that help students discover paths that align with their interests and motivations.

In this course, candidates learn the primary theories of career development and how they inform available tools and resources. They learn how to help students establish realistic career goals, create plans, and find experiential opportunities. Candidates also explore aspects of student self-assessment, including interests, abilities, values, and personality; examine tools for self-awareness and career exploration to utilize with students; gain strategies to spark student interests; and discover current resources to research career paths. The course explores decision-making strategies applicable to career choice. Participants complete this course using an individualized curriculum or program to implement with their students.

This course provides a thorough examination of the legal and safety issues that affect work-based and community-based learning programs and experiences. Participants develop a comprehensive understanding of federal and Vermont labor and safety requirements and the ability to provide effective systems that ensure safe and legal student experiences. This course expands on the legal and safety issues discussed in the survey course, Work-Based Learning: Providing Effective Opportunities for Students, Schools and Businesses. It provides a comprehensive exploration of topics, including laws surrounding labor, education, and civil rights; insurance; and the effective education of students about their own rights, safety, behaviors, and responsibilities in the workplace.

WBL presents a diverse range of opportunities and challenges that must be navigated for each student placement. In this course, participants explore the process of how students grow and develop, and how to design appropriate work-based learning experiences using a strengths-based approach. Candidates learn to meet the needs of all students and discover ways to better prepare students who may face challenges in the workforce based on their individual characteristics.

Candidates carefully consider strategies to increase the participation of students with disabilities in WBL experiences. They discuss ways to access appropriate programming supports and coach employers and mentors around supported employment. Candidates survey data and resources in support of students facing inequity related to race, immigration status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and other factors within the workplace. Candidates leave the course with a greater understanding of the needs of diverse students and an action plan to continue to advance equity and a climate of inclusion in WBL practices.

Year Two, Summer 2025 – Spring 2026

This course is ideal for those new to WBL or those who want to refine their existing program. It gives participants the opportunity to design the format and systems of a WBL program that works for their particular role and school.

The course covers creating a new program or redesigning an existing program that aligns with the candidate’s school’s goals and available resources, outreach to new community partners and systems to help build and maintain those relationships, and other tools and strategies that help WBLCs to effectively manage all aspects of their programs. Various WBL models and best practices around the state are explored. Candidates have plenty of individual time and support to design and refine the systems and tools that work for them and can be applied within their school and community.

WBL provides many youth an introduction to the world of professional work. Authentic learning experiences prove to be an invaluable part of students’ learning experiences, helping youth develop the assets they need to survive and thrive as adults. Local businesses, organizations, and community members are key partners for high school WBL programs. Recruiting and retaining partners is the bread and butter of work-based learning.

In this course, candidates explore the perspectives of WBL partners and the opportunities that exist in the communities in which they work. They focus on how to create, grow, and sustain community partners; how to align their work with workforce and community development stakeholders and their needs; and the best strategies to connect WBL experiences to student proficiencies and transferable skills

GUIDING YOU WITH EXPERTISE

Course Instructors

Kim McKellar, M.Ed.

Kim McKellar, M.Ed.

[email protected]

Kim is the Coordinator for the Work-Based Learning program at VT-HEC and has worked for VT-HEC for over 10 years in roles that included Operations Coordinator and Online and Technology Support Coordinator. Since 1995, she has been coordinating and developing various non-profit educational organizations and programs in Vermont, with a particular focus on experiential education. For ten years, she was the Mentor and Work-Based Learning Coordinator at U-32 Middle and High School, helping to coordinate U-32’s self-designed and mentored-learning programs.
Laurie Berryman, Ed.D

Laurie Berryman, Ed.D

Dr. Laurie Berryman has worked for the past 30 years serving Vermont college and high school students with a particular focus on first generation, low income students. Laurie worked as a mental health counselor on a college campus before moving to VSAC’s outreach program, working first as a counselor in 15 different high schools across the state and then as a supervisor and manager in both the Talent Search and Gear Up programs working to provide access to higher education and career planning through these two federal Department of Education programs. After leaving VSAC, Laurie worked as a school counselor at Spaulding High School, where she worked with students on career and college aspirations as well as just surviving high school (for some students!) She worked closely with the WBL coordinator in her role as the Director of School Counseling at Spaulding. Laurie is currently working at CVU High school in Hinesburg. She has taught in higher education for more than 30 years, primarily at Vermont State University and for the last 18 years in the Master’s in Counseling program. Dr. Berryman holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master’s in Counseling, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. She lives in Waterbury Center with her husband and occasionally her two boys when they visit.
Rachel Potts

Rachel Potts

Rachael is a Work-Based Learning Coordinator at Harwood Union High School. She graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education. After working with pregnant and parenting teens in San Diego and participating in the Americorps VISTA program in Burlington, she earned a master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Vermont. At Harwood, Rachael has provided work-based learning opportunities to all students and developed employment opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the transition program. Rachael is the faculty support for Harwood’s ROC (Rooted Organizing Collective) club, which is dedicated to raising funds and supplies for resettled families from around the world and providing education to the school community about issues related to migrant and racial justice. For ten years, she has also been the faculty support for Student Peace Alliance, a community service group that has recently focused its efforts around honoring the past, present and futures of the Abenaaki people in Vermont.
Rich Tulikangas, M.Ed.

Rich Tulikangas, M.Ed.

Rich currently serves as Director of the Vermont Career Advancement Project, a statewide initiative through HireAbility designed to support youth and adults with disabilities to pursue career pathways and higher wage employment. He has been passionate about helping prepare young people for life beyond high school and been a leader of numerous programs and organizations in Vermont and nationally for over 30 years. He served as HireAbility’s Director of Linking Learning to Careers, founding Executive Director of Linking Learning to Life/Navicate, Work-Based Learning Director for the National Academy Foundation (now NAF), Consultant and Program Director in several capacities for the VT Agency of Education, and was loaned to the Governor’s Office to develop the state’s School-To-Work plan.
Ruth Durkee, J.D.

Ruth Durkee, J.D.

Ruth Durkee is the State Director of Career Technical Education at the Vermont Agency of Education. For fifteen years, she was a technical center administrator in Vermont; before that, she served as the Civil Rights Coordinator for the Vermont Department of Education. Ruth has taught at the college and graduate level since 2010. An attorney by training and an educator at heart, Ruth’s goal in all of her courses is to help educators understand how the law applies to the work that they do in order to inform and enhance their professional practice. Ruth received her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, her B.A. from the College of Wooster, and certification as a mediator through Woodbury College. She is licensed as a Career and Technical Center Director and Assistant Director for Adult Education in Vermont.
Jen Olson

Jen Olson

Jen is the Work-Based Learning Coordinator for Hazen Union High School. She has spent the last 20 years in various workforce development roles; from the Getting Ready to Work program coordinator with the Lamoille Family Center, and as a career development facilitator for the VT Department of Labor. Jen finds great value in partnering with businesses and organizations to help design experiential learning opportunities and flexible pathways for high school students.
Pamela Hemingway

Pamela Hemingway

Pam has been an educator for over 25 years. In her current role as Career Development Coordinator at Essex High School in Essex Junction, Vermont, she is responsible for developing/revising the internship curriculum, assisting internship classroom teachers, finding internship locations, creating business connections, organizing school wide career activities. Prior to this role, she taught Business Education at Essex High School and helped develop a successful Community Internship course for the high school curriculum. Pam is also a co-facilitator with the Vermont Internship Professionals Network, an organization that brings together Vermont internship coordinators to share best practices and resources. She earned an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education and Business Administration from Trinity College of Vermont and a Master’s Degree in Education from Trinity College of Vermont. Pam’s parents were both educators, so she learned from a young age how important education is and that all students, no matter their background, should have the same opportunities. Along with being an educator, Pam owns her own business as a Mary Kay Cosmetics Consultant. She lives in Essex Junction with her husband and two teenage boys.