Career Gear: Students learn of options

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW March 12, 2008 05:43 pm

— More than 500 eighth-graders from Glasgow and Barren County attended a career fair Tuesday at Western Kentucky University’s Glasgow Campus.
The event was made possible with funding from the GEAR UP program, which is designed to encourage students to think about post secondary education, specifically those who are in the class of 2012.
On Tuesday, students listened to eight presenters talk about their careers. Career areas represented at the event were: technology, engineering, education, law enforcement, agriculture, interior design, real estate, media, plumber, food services and industry.
There are two things Beth Kidwell, who works with the class of 2012 at Glasgow Middle School, wanted her students to learn from the career fair.
“One is the goal of GEAR UP. The objectives of GEAR UP are to make them aware and ready for postsecondary education. So, by showing them various careers, each of our presenters has been asked to mention classes they took in high school that were valuable, and what type of education they had to (have) to get to where they are now,” Kidwell said.
The second thing she wants her students to take away from the career fair is an idea of what working conditions exist with certain jobs.
“Because I think at this age, they are so far away from a career in their mind, it’s just good to get them thinking, ‘Do I want to work 9 to 5, Monday through Friday? Do I want to be on call? Do I want to work weekends? Do I want to work third shift, second shift?’” she said.
Kathy Lowe, who works with the class of 2012 at Barren County Middle School, also wants her students to be exposed to a variety of career possibilities.
“We want to make them aware that there is a lot of opportunities out there,” she said.
She also wants students to think about what classes they need in high school to help them achieve their career goals.
Calvin Penn, a Glasgow Middle School eighth-grader, enjoyed the career fair.
“I guess it’s good for us kids to be involved in this, to know what we need to do to get to where we want to be,” he said.
One of the presenters was a computer programmer and Penn thought that sounded interesting. Another presenter was a teacher.
Stephanie Walton, also a GMS eighth-grader, says she would like to be a sixth-grade teacher because sixth-graders, she said, aren’t as “rowdy” as eighth-graders.
Abby Ponder, another GMS eighth-grader, also wants to be a teacher.
“I think that would be a good job,” she said. “You get to work with kids all day.”
Unlike Walton, Ponder said she wants to teach elementary school because, “It’s just a good age.”
Leigh Anne Botts, a Glasgow interior designer, was a presenter.
“I like to think I’m giving them lots of options that they can maybe target and set goals to kind of structure their future after,” she said.
Some of the questions students asked her dealt with salary and the type of classes they should take in high school and college in order to become an interior designer.
One student asked her what inspired her to become an interior designer.
“I told them since I was interviewed when I was in kindergarten that I said, ‘I like to color,’” she said. “And probably if you asked me today, I would say, ‘I still like to color.’”
Kent Keen, public information officer for the Glasgow Police Department, also spoke.
He said he was glad to have the opportunity to talk to the students.
“It was a good chance to have a relationship with the kids and let the kids see how the police department interacts with the community and what it takes to become a police officer,” he said.
Keen answered questions ranging from salary to positive and negative aspects of working in law enforcement.
Brian Humphrey, a Barren County Middle School eighth-grader enjoyed the program.
“The career fair was pretty cool because many people came in and told us about their job and about their salary so that we can learn about different careers,” he said.
One career possibility that piqued Humphrey’s interest that he hadn’t thought of in the past was a fast food franchise.
“One guy was a franchisee for Hardee’s and said he enjoyed working at Hardee’s and he got the days off that he wanted,” Humphrey said.
Eric Skipworth, a BCMS eighth-grader, thought the career fair was a great opportunity for students.
“We need to get involved in planning our future now so we will be ready for it,” he said.
One career that Lauren Milam, another BCMS eighth-grader, hadn’t given much thought about was a TV anchorperson.
“I had never really thought of this before, but I think the broadcasting would be really fun to do,” Milam said.
Abby Rutledge, a BCMS eighth-grader, enjoyed the program, but didn’t find a career that interested her.
Rutledge aspires to go into music education. She is in the band and said she thinks a career in music education would be fun.

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