At Laurel Highlands High School in Fayette County, 184 seniors will receive a certificate proving they are ready to work.

They have earned National Career Readiness Certificates, based on their performance on three WorkKeys tests offered by ACT Inc.

While some other schools give some WorkKeys tests or participate in the related Keys2Work program, Laurel Highlands is believed to be the first high school in Pennsylvania to take the exams to this level.

Eiden Herring, program officer for Smart Futures, a nonprofit organization, said Smart Futures works with the Keys2Work program -- a career development program built around the WorkKeys exams -- in 224 high schools statewide. She said Laurel Highlands is the only one paying for the exams. The students are expected to receive their certificates soon.

While ACT has issued more than 100,000 such certificates, it is unusual for a high school to pay the $30-per-student for their senior class to take the tests. The certificates more commonly are awarded to those already in the work force or in postsecondary education.

"I really feel that, over the years, many times we have not related what we're doing in school to the real world, to the world of work," said acting Superintendent Gary Brain. "I think it's important for the students to know and see what they do in math is something they can use when they get out into the world of work."

The three skill areas covered are applied math, reading for information and locating information. ACT profiled 12,000 jobs and found these skills are highly important to most of them.

"I think it's an opportunity for them to demonstrate to the employer they do have the basic entry level skills," said Joe Sarko, career planning coordinator at the high school.

Those earning a gold -- 40 students at Laurel Highlands -- have the "core employability skills" for 90 percent of jobs.

Those with silver -- 111 students -- have the entry skills for 65 percent of jobs. And those with bronze -- 33 students -- meet the standard for 35 percent of jobs.

The ACT Web site shows that gold scores would be needed for an accountant, silver for a municipal firefighter and bronze for an auto body repair worker.

ACT also offers nine other WorkKeys exams and gives a total of more than one million WorkKeys exams a year.

Laurel Highlands senior Jenna Hardy, 18, who earned a gold, said she thinks the skills tested on the three tests are important.

"In any job, you need to be able to calculate even small sums in your head," she said. "You have to be able to read and find out everything you have to do for your job."

Ms. Hardy, who works at two ski resorts, plans to work part-time while she is a pre-med student majoring in biochemistry at West Virginia University.

A total of 267 Laurel Highlands students took the exams. Mr. Sarko said he believes that many of the students who did not earn a certificate did not complete all three exams. Taking the math and reading tests are a graduation requirement.

In recent years, Laurel Highlands has put more of an emphasis on careers in its program.

Students begin assembling a career portfolio in the sixth grade. High school graduation requirements include 30 hours of job shadowing. Seniors are expected to analyze their WorkKey scores to see how they fit with their career plans.

And, beginning in the sophomore year, the high school offers 11 academies, such as finance, pre-engineering, fine arts, and hospitality and tourism.

"I hope that we prepare them to make informed decisions in regards to their postsecondary education and their careers," said Dr. Brain.