POULSBO — Students in the North Kitsap School District will be given a chance to learn about possible futures in careers that match their interest.

Kingston High School will host the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, on April 2 from 1-4 p.m.

The ASVAB is a “career exploration test,” said a career counselor Denise Comeau, who works out of Kingston High School and North Kitsap High School.

Comeau said the tests evaluate each student’s verbal, technical, and math and science skills.

“They get those scores back and they develop and review their career goals and plans,” Comeau said.

The tests are free, and any student 16 and older can take them. Comeau said they don’t need to register, but can just show up at the Kingston High School library in time for the test. As April 2 is a student conference day, Comeau said students won’t be missing any classes for the test.

“Between 20 and 30 students [usually] take it,” Comeau said. “It just helps determine … which career fields or occupations would be satisfying for them, and then they can look into colleges for those fields or they can go into the military.”

Though the ASVAB is hosted by the military, Comeau said a student’s scores aren’t released to military branches unless the individual student requests it.

“It’s up to the students if they want to release their scores to the military,” Comeau said. “The military doesn’t know unless they talk to a recruiter. I use it more just as a career exploration.”

The three-hour test is not intended as a replacement for the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, or the American College Test, or ACT.

However, Comeau said it’s helpful for students, because it helps give them direction for their high school plans and beyond.

“Part of that planning process is not just their grades and their tests while they’re in school, but also what their likes and dislikes are and what they’re going to do after they graduate. But they need to plan for that, especially sophomores and juniors, what kind of scholarships and things are available to them.”

The ASVAB is given twice a year in the North Kitsap School District, Comeau said, and she tries to alternate the test between high schools, though students from either school can take the test each time.

Comeau said the test is useful for narrowing down “what the students’ interests are and abilities and skills, to what they will probably be doing in their careers and lifetimes.”

“It’s really good,” Comeau said. “A good tool.”