Jury Elementary learns about future job opportunities
What do a chef’s hat, a cell phone and a pen light have in common? Jury Elementary students learned they are all tools of the trade, depending on your career choice.
Students in grades K-2 were visited in their classrooms by professionals who talked about expertise in their jobs, educational requirements, salary ranges and the services they provide.
For students in grades three through six, the gymnasium was turned into a career expo, with a new classroom coming every hour with students rotating locations every 15 minutes to learn about several interesting occupations.
Occupations presented included an animal trainer, a banker, a dietary manager, a photographer, an electrician and youth ministers, to name a few.
“Those are military-standard phones,” said Angela Harrell, a Verizon Wireless Communications representative who was swarmed by youngsters. “They work in the rain or in storms.”
A colorful array of phones with moving video, global positioning, mini-keyboards and different shapes and sizes is often an irresistible and easy sell for tech-savvy kids and adults as well.
“There is v-casting for sports, news, music videos for entertainment,” she told one boy. “But some folks have to have phones for their jobs!” she also reminded her visitors. As they admired her cellular gadgetry, Harrell described the journey of how video/music signals go into a server, then to a cell tower and then through the phones.
The flash of a pen light captured the imagination of several students, who visited with Krista Simmons, RN, a critical care nurse from DePaul Hospital.
“The pen light is for neuro-assessments on patients to make sure their pupils are reactive and there is no swelling of the brain,” she said. “If the pupils are not reactive, that usually indicates there is a problem—possible swelling of the brain.”
As some students took turns trying out the pen light to look at the pupils of their classmate’s eyes, another student is immersed into finding out more about the nursing field.
“How many years of training do you need?” asked the girl, who was taking notes.
“Two years for your associates, four years for a bachelor’s in nursing,” Simmons said. “With a master’s, you can become either a nurse practitioner or a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Then you can actually put people to sleep like an anesthesiologist.”
A few ears seemed to perk up.
“It’s becoming a big trend to use CRNAs in the operating rooms,” she said. “To give epidurals for labor and delivery, and et cetera. And they can make the big dollars, 100,000 to 120,000 at the start,” she added.
Now, the nurse was dealing with perked up ears, smiles and nods for feedback. And the presentation continued. Simmons pulled out what looked like a small, blue exercise band.
“This is a tourniquet,” she said. “We use them to draw blood.”
At another table, students were writing at a feverous pace. It turned out they were completing word search puzzles to find real estate terms. Others were calculating commission rates.
Beatrice Smith, a real estate agent, event planner, post office employee and entrepreneur stood as a living example of an important lesson she stressed to students who visited her display.
“Never put your eggs in one basket,” she summarized her advice, “and I taught the advantage of always having a pen and paper with you.”
“Having the opportunity to explore a variety of careers, the bottom line is that Jury students learned that reading, writing, and mathematics are important to future careers and employment,” said Dianne Parr, a counselor at Jury and fair co-organizer.
“My gratitude goes out to the volunteers who took their valuable time and energy to present career insight as well as ‘hands on’ material,” said Gina McKee, the other counselor and career fair co-organizer. “Students remember experiential learning activities.”
Students completed the experience by writing thank you letters to the adults who made the career fair a success.