MMS: Life lessons, career exploration
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Middle schoolers aren't under the same pressure as their older counterparts in high school to make career path decisions, but it's helpful for them to know the possibilities, Marietta Middle School teacher Ginger Brown said.
Two years ago Brown began working on a revival of the school tradition of holding a career day, a routine that had fallen by the wayside more than 15 years ago.
"This is a passion of mine, and my vision is for this to be an annual event," she said Friday as throughout the building students gathered in classrooms to hear 30 businesses and professionals talk about their career fields.
The school enrolls 640 students, and on Friday each of them took in five presentations, a daylong process that pre-empted classes.
"It's horizon-broadening, eye-opening for them," Brown said.
"Some of the students have a very narrow focus, this helps them imagine the possibilities."
It wasn't just soaking up information and moving on for the students, she said. All of them were given information packets and an assignment to complete on what they learned.
Three members of the Pickering Associates team of architects and engineers spoke to about two dozen mixed grade students in Room 113, with an added bonus - they had taken measurements of the room with a 3D scanner and showed the students what they would do if improvements, such as new ventilation systems and a computer center were added, illustrating each change within the measurements of the room.
Nick Arnold, a Building Information Model manager for the firm, said Pickering employs architects and engineers but also has information technology specialists, accountants, marketing professionals and other occupations.
"Our team's education runs anywhere from high school graduates to masters degrees," he said.
In response to a question about getting into mechanical engineering, Mindi Moore told the student to take the appropriate courses in high school and then be prepared to buckle down.
"When you get to college, take it seriously. It is hard," she said.
Anthony Sparks, an eighth grader, said a presentation by Stephanie Harlow from the criminal justice program at Washington State Community College captured his interest, although he failed two elements in the field sobriety test she demonstrated.
Sparks said he feels committed to join the military.
"There's not one male in my family that hasn't served," he said.
Eighth grader Jarrett Parks said he was surprised by the presentation about surgical technician careers.
"I didn't know I could do that, it's not as long as college," he said. Parks said he appreciates the guidance the career day presentations offered.
"Eighth grade is a good time to start thinking about it so you can plan," he said, adding that he enjoys science and wants a career field that will enable him to help people.
"You never know, you might be able to save a life," he said.
Laurell Kovac said the media presentation got her thinking about a career as a videographer and camera operator.
"That was fun," she said. "You make lots of money, meet lots of people, maybe even celebrities. You have to be good at math, quick-thinking, and it's a lot of hours."
After lunch, John Church offered his perspective on owning a business to an intense group of students.
Proprietor of Kona Ice of the Mid-Ohio Valley, Church told the group, "It's an opportunity to make some money, but you have to work hard."
The room groaned when he told them that he and his wife put in about 90 hours a week, but he said the bright side is that they spend summers in the Florida Keys selling shaved, flavored ice out of their truck.
Church said the biggest drawback to owning a business is putting your personal finances on the line.
He offered some advice to those who will be taking summer jobs in unskilled occupations like the fast food industry: Learn from what you see and do.
"If you get a job at McDonald's, you have a chance to learn from the the most refined fast-food process in the world. They have it down to a science," he said. "That's not just a job, that's training."
For those who like a steadier paycheck, Jeff Smith of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 168 had a suggestion: apprenticeship.
As students passed around and examined a welding mask equipped with virtual reality training hardware, Smith offered them a condensed history of the long established system of passing down skilled trades through generations through apprenticeships. Pipefitters have to master math, acquire an intimate knowledge of building codes and learn to weld, among other things, he said.
And it pays well - apprentices start out at more than $16 an hour, paid to learn on the job.
The work has a unique satisfactions, he said.
"When you go out to Belpre, what do you see?" he said, and named the places - Kraton, Eramet, gas compression plants, one facility after another, all with their fundamental arteries assembled by pipefitters. "You can drive anywhere in the valley and see what we built."
Career Day, Marietta Middle School
¯ Students: 640.
¯ Presenters: 30.
¯ Sessions: About 55 minutes each.
¯ Number of sessions attended by each student: Five.