Thanks to a partnership with Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Boys & Girls Clubs across Montana introduced a state-of-the virtual reality career exploration program that has created excitement among middle and high school member. Teens in 10 Boys & Girls Clubs are now able to access virtual “hands on” experiences in over 25 different careers through the same Oculus Virtual Reality Headsets they already use for gaming!
With funding from the Governor’s Office, Boys & Girls Clubs across Montana have partnered with a company called TRANSFR VR to deploy 75 specially programmed headsets that bring career exploration to our Teens right in their local Clubhouse. This popular new resource and program provides thousands of Club kids a realistic simulated experience to explore different careers and skills in the safety of their local Club. Experiences that are both technically accurate and so realistic in appearance that one of first things we tell every user is “do not lean on the tables, because they are not really there!” Each of the career modules have been painstakingly designed by experts in each their field and provide Club kids an opportunity to “get their hands dirty” and try some of the skills they will need to be successful in the career they are exploring.
This virtual experience is part of an effort by Boys & Girls Clubs to broaden the horizons of our Teens by learning more about what careers are available and what they might be interested in learning about, so they have more information to make important decisions about their future as it relates to pursuing a college degree or a successful career in the trades. Thanks to TRANSFR’s list of career exploration modules, which includes automotive maintenance, workplace safety, robotic arm maintenance, carpentry, plumbing and culinary arts, Club kids gain valuable career insight they can use to make those big decisions.
Here in Yellowstone County, this new program has been one of the most utilized activities in our Teen Centers and has created quite the interest in learning about different careers, which we hope you can help us with. As our Teens find a career, they are excited about wanting to learn more, we want to match members with local professionals who can share more information and help our Club kids figure out “what’s next” on their career exploration journey. If you are interested in learning more about the virtual reality career exploration program or would like to meet with some of our Teens to help them learn more about your business, please contact Josh Kostelecky at
jkostelecky@bgcyellowstone.org.
