Never too young to pick a career
Eighth graders spend day learning about different occupations
By TERESA RESSEL
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, November 29, 2009
Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 4:08 AM CST
Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 4:08 AM CST
BONNE TERRE — Area eighth graders were able to learn more about some of the careers they are interested in by visiting the UniTec Career Center last week.
There were bankers, engineers, police and firefighters, nurses, a pilot, and even a state representative at the career day for eighth graders. The professionals talked about the different careers available in their fields and the kind of training they must get.
Cynthia Kramer of SCOPE (Science and Citizens Organized for Purpose and Exploration) showed students that agriculture/plant science is not only fun, but it is a field that has a variety of job opportunities.
In her room, students dissected strawberries to get DNA. She said farmers were the original scientists.
Students visiting the welding classroom got to see how parts for a race care were made.
Todd Renshaw, a recent Mineral Area College graduate who works as a nurse at the prison in Bonne Terre, and Leslie Duncan, a UniTec health services instructor talked to students about nursing opportunities. They told the students that there are always job openings in the nursing field.
One girl said she was worried she wouldn’t be able to give people shots.
The UniTec instructors pointed out that vocational schools are a good way to find out if you are interested in nursing because it is free and you can have a chance to earn credits toward a college degree while in high school.
The five Viburnum students who visited the health services room right after lunch said they were interested in being a nurse, a surgeon, a vet, a marine biologist or a medical researcher.
The students also got to meet Keith Buckley who spent 20 years in the military before becoming a pilot for Arch Air Medical Service.
When Buckley talked to Viburnum students, he said he saw some of their sisters and friends when a bus carrying the volleyball team crashed two years ago.
While the injuries in the bus crash were not life-threatening, Buckley said he sees a lot of “ugly stuff” in his job.
He said he doesn’t have a medical background, but he definitely does have an appreciation for what nurses and paramedics do. He said it takes a lot of character to work with emergency medical patients, but you get a lot of satisfaction when you help someone.
State Rep. Linda Fischer, D- Bonne Terre, talked about a different way of helping people.
Growing up, Fischer heard a lot about politics. Her uncle was the county assessor for several years.
While she was a teacher, she decided to run for state representative. She said the worst parts of the job are that a state representative has to run every two years and it takes a lot of money to run for a position.
“Probably the worst part of the job is raising money ...” she said.
But the best part of the job is helping people, she said. She said to be a state representative you have to care about “people and people issues.”
She said right now, she is working on a law to crack down on DWI offenders. She believes there are too many fatalities that involve drivers who have had more than two DWI offenses.
She said in a way, she is her own boss. But in another way, she isn’t — she has 35,000 people she has to answer to.
Fischer said the pay is $35,120. She said it is a year-round job where you can expect to get phone calls at home from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Construction Technology and Electronics Technology instructors told students that the economy is down right now but there is always something to do with construction skills.
When some of the students who visited said they didn’t have any ideas about what career they wanted to pursue, Construction Technology Instructor Rob Stacy said, “Pick something you like. Money doesn’t equal success ...”
Nearly 400 students from Central, Farmington, West County, Bismarck and Viburnum participated in the career day. A few North County students who had the day off showed up with their parents. Other schools were invited but didn’t attend because of the flu season or because other career fairs have been scheduled.
The event was sponsored by the Southeast Missouri P20 Council, the Southeast Missouri WIRED Initiative and UniTec. This was one of several career events held throughout Southeast Missouri this fall but it was the first one held at a career center.
Janet Witter, WIRED Initiative manager, said the presenters and instructors put a lot of hard work into this and did a good job.
Each student participated in two 30-minute interactive career path sessions related to fields the Missouri Connections assessment indicated they had interest in.
Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.
There were bankers, engineers, police and firefighters, nurses, a pilot, and even a state representative at the career day for eighth graders. The professionals talked about the different careers available in their fields and the kind of training they must get.
Cynthia Kramer of SCOPE (Science and Citizens Organized for Purpose and Exploration) showed students that agriculture/plant science is not only fun, but it is a field that has a variety of job opportunities.
In her room, students dissected strawberries to get DNA. She said farmers were the original scientists.
Students visiting the welding classroom got to see how parts for a race care were made.
Todd Renshaw, a recent Mineral Area College graduate who works as a nurse at the prison in Bonne Terre, and Leslie Duncan, a UniTec health services instructor talked to students about nursing opportunities. They told the students that there are always job openings in the nursing field.
One girl said she was worried she wouldn’t be able to give people shots.
The UniTec instructors pointed out that vocational schools are a good way to find out if you are interested in nursing because it is free and you can have a chance to earn credits toward a college degree while in high school.
The five Viburnum students who visited the health services room right after lunch said they were interested in being a nurse, a surgeon, a vet, a marine biologist or a medical researcher.
The students also got to meet Keith Buckley who spent 20 years in the military before becoming a pilot for Arch Air Medical Service.
When Buckley talked to Viburnum students, he said he saw some of their sisters and friends when a bus carrying the volleyball team crashed two years ago.
While the injuries in the bus crash were not life-threatening, Buckley said he sees a lot of “ugly stuff” in his job.
He said he doesn’t have a medical background, but he definitely does have an appreciation for what nurses and paramedics do. He said it takes a lot of character to work with emergency medical patients, but you get a lot of satisfaction when you help someone.
State Rep. Linda Fischer, D- Bonne Terre, talked about a different way of helping people.
Growing up, Fischer heard a lot about politics. Her uncle was the county assessor for several years.
While she was a teacher, she decided to run for state representative. She said the worst parts of the job are that a state representative has to run every two years and it takes a lot of money to run for a position.
“Probably the worst part of the job is raising money ...” she said.
But the best part of the job is helping people, she said. She said to be a state representative you have to care about “people and people issues.”
She said right now, she is working on a law to crack down on DWI offenders. She believes there are too many fatalities that involve drivers who have had more than two DWI offenses.
She said in a way, she is her own boss. But in another way, she isn’t — she has 35,000 people she has to answer to.
Fischer said the pay is $35,120. She said it is a year-round job where you can expect to get phone calls at home from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Construction Technology and Electronics Technology instructors told students that the economy is down right now but there is always something to do with construction skills.
When some of the students who visited said they didn’t have any ideas about what career they wanted to pursue, Construction Technology Instructor Rob Stacy said, “Pick something you like. Money doesn’t equal success ...”
Nearly 400 students from Central, Farmington, West County, Bismarck and Viburnum participated in the career day. A few North County students who had the day off showed up with their parents. Other schools were invited but didn’t attend because of the flu season or because other career fairs have been scheduled.
The event was sponsored by the Southeast Missouri P20 Council, the Southeast Missouri WIRED Initiative and UniTec. This was one of several career events held throughout Southeast Missouri this fall but it was the first one held at a career center.
Janet Witter, WIRED Initiative manager, said the presenters and instructors put a lot of hard work into this and did a good job.
Each student participated in two 30-minute interactive career path sessions related to fields the Missouri Connections assessment indicated they had interest in.
Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.
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