Why Agilities Are the Ultimate Back-to-School Essential

Pencils, Paper, and… Career Literacy? Why Agilities Are the Ultimate Back-to-School Essential

Guest blog by Sally Burnett, Instructional Technology Coach, Financial and Career Literacy Fanatic

It’s that time of year again! August has rolled around, which means back-to-school madness is officially in full swing.

• Number 2 pencils? Check.
• College-ruled notebook paper? Check.
• Classic Pink Pearl erasers? Check.
• Career literacy resources? Wait… WHAT?

Hear me out! While glue sticks and binders are great, there is one non-negotiable tool every student, every teacher, and every classroom needs as we kick off the new academic year—from kindergarten all the way through post-secondary education.

That tool? The DeBruce Foundation’s Agilities^TM.

The Agilities 

If you aren’t familiar yet, the Agilities are the ten key work skills found in every single job in the economy. Knowing what the Agilities are—and, more importantly, discovering your own top Agilities—is the ultimate cheat code for unlocking self-awareness, building career confidence, and connecting classroom learning to real-world success. Best of all? The DeBruce Foundation provides these tools, resources, and educator training completely free of charge.

Over the past three years, my colleagues and I have used the Agilities across a wildly diverse spectrum of ages and learning styles. Time and time again, I’ve watched the Agilities framework transform how students view themselves and their futures. Here is a peek at what that looks like in action:

Building Self-Belief in High School Leadership

Our High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students took the Agile Work Profiler (AWP) assessment right before launching a massive service project: developing and teaching financial literacy lessons to every 1st–4th grader in our district. When it came time to select events for the district FBLA competition—many of which require intimidating public speaking and/or presentation components—doubts ran high.

But, when we paused to reflect through the lens of their AWP results, the lightbulbs went off. Students realized they had actively grown their Organizing, Developing Others, and Selling & Communicating Agilities. That realization shifted their mindset from “I can’t do this” to “I’ve already been doing this!” while giving them a common vocabulary to prove it.

Fostering Career Fair Confidence in Alternative Education

Our Alternative Education students were introduced to the Agilities at the beginning of the school year. They started by taking the AWP and learned about their personal strengths and interests. The result? By spring, they weren’t standing quietly in the background at the local career fair. Equipped with the language to describe their unique strengths, they were far more engaged, prepared, and confident when interacting with prospective employers. For struggling students, some of whom face unspeakable challenges, acknowledgment and validation of their value has been an immeasurable morale boost.

Unlocking Potential in Special Education

In our Special Ed / Vocational Science class, post-secondary transition skills are the primary goal. Every student took the AWP—including a non-verbal student who utilized an elementary-level Agilities lesson. Integrating 30-minute Agilities lessons twice a week was seamless, as students tied concepts directly to the hands-on jobs they perform running our high school coffee shop.

After using the Agilities to draft resumes, they prepped for a regional Job Olympics. This incredible team placed second in their division, and one student took home a silver medal in the interview competition. Mind you, the majority of these students read at a 2nd- to 3rd-grade level—proving that career literacy, when made accessible, empowers everyone.

Tailoring Success Across the Board

The versatility of these tools never ceases to amaze me:

ACT Prep Students used the AWP, Career Explorer Tools, and resume lessons to prepare resumes and college applications. Even students who had created resumes prior to these lessons commented on how much more professional and capable their work sounded.

Theater Students took the AWP and utilized the Draw Your Future framework for an engaging team-building and season-planning session. One typically reserved student got so passionately involved that a peer blurted out, “Who ARE you?!”

Empowering Educators, Too

It isn’t just students who benefit. Whenever educators embrace the Agilities, the results are the same: immense growth, newfound innovation, and a huge boost in professional confidence. When teachers understand their own Agilities, it sparks a fresh, creative energy in how they mentor and design lessons. And it ALL STARTS with taking the Agile Work Profiler.

As you prepare your classrooms and print those syllabi this month, I challenge you to add career literacy to your back-to-school toolkit. Whether you teach kindergarten, adults re-entering the workforce, or anyone in between, integrating the Agilities isn’t extra work—it’s giving your students the roadmap they need to thrive. Since the resources and training are completely free, there’s no reason not to add Agilities to your Back to School Essentials.

Tip: Require students to create a “portfolio” folder with subfolders for each grade level. Inside each subfolder, create three subfolders: one for certificates, one for artifacts, and one for AWP results. They may grumble now, but they’ll thank you later. See the accompanying image

This back-to-school season, bring the Agilities to your classroom:

• For students ages 13 and older, get started with the Agile Work Profiler.
• For younger students, or to access 90+ free K-12 lesson plans, classroom resources, and on-demand training, create an account on Agilities.org