Empowering Students with Career Language: An Interview with Third-Grade Teachers Melissa Riedi and Christa Held

In Quakertown, Pennsylvania, an initiative is shifting how students see themselves and how they explore possibilities in the world of work. Led by Superintendent Matthew Friedman, Ed.D , the Quakertown Community School District is partnering with Educators Cooperative to launch their version of the Career Connected Schools approach, called Career Language Integration (CLI).

CLI represents Quakertown’s district-wide effort to cultivate career curiosity, normalize career conversations, and help every student develop a vivid and specific sense of career identity. The work is grounded in several key benchmarks that prioritize the use of a common career language—anchored in the RIASEC framework—and applying dialogic teaching methods integrated into core instruction.

In this way, the Career Connected Schools approach stands apart from most career interventions because it focuses on instructional practices and student engagement rather than content delivery or standalone curriculum. This opens the door for career conversations to be deployed naturally by any educators across all content areas. Over time, these methods become a new lens for teachers—bringing a new way of adding relevance to academic content while helping students consider how their interests show up in what they are learning.

Among the early adopters leading this work in Quakertown are Melissa Riedi and Christa Held, third-grade teachers at Quakertown Elementary School. I had the chance to sit down with them as part of my ongoing teacher interview series.

As early adopters of CLI, they’ve woven career-connected learning into the fabric of their classrooms - using their own instructional best practices and adopting some new ones along the way. Their work has already drawn attention from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Their passion offers a useful glimpse into how and why the Career Connected Schools approach deserves consideration in every school. What follows is our interview, capturing their reflections on integrating RIASEC and dialogic methods into core instruction

Q&A with Melissa Riedi and Christa Held

Q: What motivated you to raise your hand to be part of CLI?

Christa: "I jumped in to say I would try this in my classroom, knowing it was coming up, but I didn’t understand how this would fit. I did not actually understand “the why”, when I was teaching fourth grade last year, why do fourth graders need this? And then I saw it in just a short few minutes—how engaged my kids were to learn about RIASEC. Watching students light up, to see their interest and connect… with not only these letters but with each other. Kids that don’t share on a normal basis were jumping out of their seats to share. That was only the second day, and I truly understood."

Melissa: "We usually are the ones that try different things. We’re always changing everything we do and this was an exciting change. We call ourselves very prescriptive people; we don’t just do the same thing all the time—we teach who’s in front of us, which means that we adapt things a lot. After we spent our day with you, it was just so engaging for us, and we started to adapt our lessons and our message right away—using the language. The kids were so excited to learn about themselves, to learn about each other, to ‘RIASEC’ everybody that we see and everybody we talk about. It’s just been really powerful for me to get to know the kids on a different level as well."

Q: What’s been the impact of using RIASEC with your students?

Christa: "Once I saw all my kids light up and have an interest in something, I knew that this was something we could use and embed in so many other things we’re doing, because they were so engaged. That’s when I knew this was an easy tool going forward to integrate into all the other subjects."

Melissa: "Through this approach we’re learning so many things about the kids that we didn’t know before. I feel like Christa and I have always said we know our kids very well, but we know them at an even deeper level now than we did before, just because of this."

Q: How do you integrate RIASEC into your classroom activities and lessons?

Christa: "It’s like seasoning—we sprinkle throughout the day. It naturally fits into what we’re already doing, making every lesson more engaging and meaningful. For example, we finished a book study on Because of Winn-Dixie, and the kids were pumped to pick which character they wanted to talk about, which RIASEC theme they were, and find text evidence to support it. They were excited to write about a character."

Melissa: "It comes up all the time. For example, during a science lesson on geology, the book briefly mentioned geologists. We started to talk about, 'What type of RIASEC person do you think a geologist would be? And why do you feel like that?' It was so easy to take what we were already teaching and add this layer to it. The kids are at the point now that if I don’t bring it up, they will start engaging. It’s very natural for them to use the language across all content areas."

Q: How do your students use RIASEC as part of their collaboration?

Melissa: "They know who to go to for help. If someone needs a creative solution, they find a classmate with Artistic strengths. If they need organization, they look for someone who’s more Conventional. It’s amazing to watch them use this language to collaborate effectively."

Christa: "We’re putting names on things and allowing kids to recognize the interests in each other and what people can really bring to the table. We’re able to do it more effectively, more efficiently."

Q: What advice would you give to a teacher just starting with RIASEC?

Christa: "The more natural you make it, the more natural it’s going to be for them. Start simple. Use the black-and-white posters, the videos, and the cards to introduce the themes. Let students reflect and connect at their own pace. Don’t overcomplicate it—it fits so seamlessly into what we’re already doing."

Melissa: "When we introduced it this year, we blocked off our whole morning and just RIASEC’d the whole morning. By the end of that first day, the majority of them could truly talk about it. Even struggling readers and English learners were using the language. It’s that fast."

Q: Is RIASEC truly for all students?

Melissa: "Absolutely. We’ve had students across the board—kids struggling academically, behaviorally—100% engagement when we’re doing anything with RIASEC. Because of the differentiation we provide, we make it attainable and reachable for all kids. I can’t think of anyone for whom this wouldn’t work."

Christa: "One student barely spoke English and struggled with most academics. But when we began to introduce the RIASEC, she connected with it immediately. She found her Artistic theme, and the pride she had in her work was amazing. She now has conversations with me that she didn’t have before. She found her connection to the classroom."

Q: What would you say to educators about the power of having a common career language in your classroom?

Melissa: "It’s transformed how we teach and how our students see themselves. I’ve never been as excited about something in my 21 years of teaching as I am about this. We’re passionate about it because it works. We wish we could RIASEC all day."

Spring Residency Visit: March 2025

When Dr. Steve and I returned this past spring to Quakertown, we knew we wanted to go to Quakertown Elementary to participate in classroom demonstrations.  While there, we had the opportunity to engage students in Ms. Held and Ms. Riedi’s classroom, and we had the chance to challenge their students and test activities we’d normally deploy with upper elementary and middle school students. Their students were so ready!

In one of our activities, we used the Connect the Work job cards in a "select and trade" activity: each student received a job card at random and had to determine fit based on their RIASEC themes. If the role didn’t align, they could trade with peers—essentially networking to find a better fit.

Q: Ms. Riedi and Ms. Held, what did you notice during the select and trade activity?

"The first thing we noticed was the excitement and engagement that could easily be sensed in every corner of the room. The kids were pumped to imagine their future selves in the real world! They were using their RIASEC self-identification to try to find an occupation that would lead to career happiness! A self-proclaimed ‘Conventional’ student was in search of a yellow card first and then explored the career. An ‘Investigative’ student searched for a blue card. Others used their knowledge of self to determine if the job was a fit or if it was one to trade."

Q: What surprised you?

"Some students focused on salary over interest. It was a valuable moment to discuss how money matters, but fit matters too. Others had tons of questions about new jobs: What does a web developer do? What about a solar photovoltaic installer? They were eager to know more - they were curious!"

Q: What did you find most useful?

"We loved the video follow-up! Mr. Hidalgo sent us career videos from Career OneStop that extended the learning. Now we use them during morning meetings or when a topic fits our curriculum. The world of careers opened up for them."

Q: What would you change?

"More time! And maybe cover the salary initially so that the trades they make are more interest-driven. Some students needed reading support, so having extra adults during the activity would be helpful."

Closing Thoughts

Melissa Riedi and Christa Held’s story is a testament to the transformative power of career-connected learning. By integrating CLI into their classrooms, they are equipping students with a lifelong language of interests, strengths, skills, and values—fostering collaboration and activating career curiosity. Their experience showcases the transformational impact of Quakertown’s Career Language Integration initiative and offers an alternative roadmap for schools seeking new ways to embed career-related learning—approaches grounded in instruction and designed to coexist seamlessly with existing curriculum.

Most importantly, their students are excited and these teachers are even getting to know their students better as a result. The language of RIASEC—and the conversations that are naturally surfacing because of it—is helping every child engage in deeper understanding, connection, and self-discovery. From English learners to students who typically struggle, all are finding a new way to express who they are and where they might be headed.