CAMDEN — Preble Shawnee’s Camden Primary School held its third annual Career Day on Friday, May 10. According to Counselor Abbie Steele, the day is organized to expose students to various career fields and get them thinking about the connection between school and work.
The event has grown every year to include new career fields. There were trucks for the kindergartners to explore, classroom presentations for first grade students, and career presentations in the gym for second and third grade students.
Steele does guidance lessons with all of her students and focuses on different career clusters. She had presentations from medical sciences, agricultural services, human services, and business services. Steele tried to get representatives from every career cluster so every student could see something which interested them.
When Career Day began, it started with only 10 careers for students to explore. Every year the event has grown to allow students to see more career options. This year there were 22 jobs represented at Career Day.
For Steele, it is important for the students to understand their options so they can know what career would fit their personality and what education path they should pursue.
“I think it is important for students to make that connection between academics and their career. We talk about things they are interested in and things that fit with their personality. They know that sometimes you do need to go to college for a career and sometimes you do not. These jobs really take skills that fit with them,” Steele said.
“I think they need to understand that connection between academics and what they are going to do later on in life. Even if they finish with a high school diploma, there are jobs represented here today that they will be able to apply themselves to. If they intend to go the college route, there are jobs represented that require that as well. That exposure is important to let them know there are a multitude of skills that they have that they can apply to their career.”
Cindy Emerick Whitson is the Senior Vice President in Business Development and Vice President of Technical Development for Dynamic Attractions. She attended Career Day to drive enthusiasm for the next wave of engineers. Her degree is in material science and engineering and she works with multiple engineers to design and deliver amusement rides throughout the world.
“Right now these students don’t know what they want to do and they don’t get to go out there,” She said. “People don’t know that when they ride an amusement ride there are 20 different jobs that make that happen.”
Tiffany Banks is an RN who works in PACU Surgery. She was a presenter at Career Day who wanted to teach the students how important it is to stay in school. Banks was giving the students background on herself and her career. She also told them how much she loves her job, to the point where she considers it a career, not a job.
“If I didn’t have my education, I wouldn’t be able to do my career that I have,” she said. “I want these students to know that even though they probably don’t like what they’re doing right now, they think school is not important, but it is. They will learn all they are learning now in their careers.”
