Career discovery
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 24, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Senior Airman Chris Parker with the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Fire Department does push-ups with Dhimani Fenty, 14, wearing an oxygen tank while his classmates from Rosewood Middle School watch Tuesday during the seventh annual Middle School Career Fair at the Goldsboro Family Y. Fenty did 30 push-ups while wearing the extra weight.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Riley Ryan, 13, left, and Najia Bizzell, 15, laugh while they experiment with a green screen at the audio visual production booth at the seventh annual Middle School Career Fair held Tuesday at the Goldsboro Family Y.
The YMCA gymnasium put most of the students on sensory overload Tuesday.
In one corner, students were given the opportunity to try on all sorts of firefighting turnout gear. Further down, several clustered around a cornhole board. And scattered around the room, others took advantage of learning more about becoming a funeral director, a chef or a welder.
More than 1,500 students passed through the doors, representing public, private and home-school settings. It was hosted by the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce's Wayne Education Network, or WEN.
Tuesday marked the seventh annual Middle School Career Fair, targeting eighth-graders and providing them with a glimpse into some of the jobs they might pursue in the future. That age group was chosen because this is the crossroads when they will be considering high school courses next year.
A second event was to have been held today, but was canceled late Tuesday in anticipation of inclement weather expected to hit the area.
The second annual STEM Fair, offering seventh-graders a better understanding of the many options available in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, has been rescheduled until April 6, officials said.
Karen Burnette, chair of the middle school career fair committee, gave high marks to those attending the event.
"All of the students have been very engaged," she said. "Every year we think of a little something to tweak it but it seems to be run very well."
In preparation for the career fair, counselors worked with the students to help them gauge areas of interest.
Students were encouraged to not only explore businesses or careers in their aptitude and interest areas but also to experience options they may not have previously experienced or considered.
"They had to take a personal assessment to see what they like, different things that they want to do, different things that they want to do, different things that the test said they would be good at," said Kelly Best, a science teacher at Rosewood Middle School, who accompanied a group of students Tuesday morning.
Rosewood students Azurbe Coney, Jasmine Rowe, Anna Weeks and Kaylee Whitley clustered around the Allied Health Program booth set up by Wayne Community College.
"I want to be a doctor," Azurbe said.
Anna has aspirations to become a nurse anesthetist.
"I want to be a lawyer," Kaylee said.
"I want to be a pediatrician," chimed in Jasmine.
What fascinated them at the moment were several models of babies at different stages of growth in the womb.
"I really like that," Kaylee said.
Miss Best said she was impressed with the array of career paths students sought out, which ranged from agriculture and animal science to police officers.
"They have really high aspirations," she said. "I'm really proud of them."
Rosewood classmates Ashley Minchew said she agriculture may be a career path to explore, but she and classmate Lola Negron also shared an interest in the Barbizon Modeling School booth nearby. Modeling holds an appeal, both said, but Ashley said she might also enjoy being a make-up artist and Lola mentioned acting.
At first hesitant to venture out, both were encouraged to at least fill out a form requesting more information at the Barbizon booth.
Spring Creek Middle students Travis Dusseault, Kyla Young and Destiny Thomas had several options on their list for the day.
Kyla was leaning toward education, specifically early childhood, while Destiny's options included agriculture and public service.
"I'm looking for the technical stuff you can do with technology, like a virtual reality," Travis said, adding two back-up areas -- funeral service and culinary arts.
"The ones that stood out for me were definitely technology and culinary," he said, agreeing that the career fair had been beneficial. "It helped me find something that I can do as far as career goes and just gives me ideas."
Alyssa Bradshaw with the Goldsboro Parks and Recreation program said she also felt the career fair was worthwhile.
While the booth offered mostly information on the program's offerings -- from the cornhole display to brochures on Cliffs of the Neuse and recreational events -- the concept was to give young people another vantage point as they look to the future.
"We tell them our motto, 'We make play happen,'" she said. "We're just trying to tell them what we do on a daily basis.
"We know they're still young and they're going to go through different stages of life. We want them to know how fun it is, how interesting our different programs are."
Apparently it was working, beyond the target audience.
"We actually had a teacher come up and say, 'Are you guys hiring?'" Ms. Bradshaw said with a laugh.