Altoona Middle School students explore careers at 'JA in a Day'
As a career fair hosted by Junior Achievement, Altoona Middle School's commons saw people from the community come and speak for their 'JA in a Day' event as an opportunity to learn about potential career paths. This marks the second year where the school has taken part in this event.
Seventh-grade teacher Amanda Marquardt said this time is a pivotal moment where students are starting to think about what they might want to do but may be unaware of the options available to them.
'There is the typical, 'I can be a teacher, I can be a police officer, I can be a pilot,' but some of these jobs never existed when we were kids and they don't know what is out there as options unless we give them these opportunities to see people and talk to these businesses,' she said. 'I think the whole point is to open their horizons a little bit and see what their options are.'
'Obviously at the middle school age, they are just starting to think about career or post-secondary opportunities,' said Alisha Klemish, education manager for Junior Achievement of Wisconsin-Northwest Area. 'It is to get their eyes open about all of these different opportunities, maybe opportunities they weren't aware of, and just to see where they fall in love with certain career fields so they can start focusing on that come high school.'
Students could talk with professionals on careers in information technology, otherwise known as IT; horse therapy or veterinarian work; educator opportunities at the college level; finance-related fields; and more.
With representatives from local law enforcement and public safety agencies at the school, students even learned about roles they could take working for volunteer and part-time firefighting agencies like the Altoona Fire Department.
'There are a lot of volunteer fire departments around the community that really need assistance right now facing a crisis with responses,' said Assistant Fire Chief Alexandra Huff. 'We are trying to find a way to have them interested in what we do and understand what we do. It is not just about us: it is about our community, our friends and our families.'
Huff also said the opportunity to talk to students was a great privilege as they do not always get chances to come and talk in the schools, but they are interested in connecting more with local youth.
'A lot of the youth out there might not know what they want to do once they hit high school or even when they graduate, so to come now and get them interested in exactly what we do is giving them more ideas,' she said. 'It is broadening their horizons to let them know you are not just stuck with one job — you do not have to go to one place, you can also volunteer with your local fire department or there are other options out there.'
For Julie Sherman, director of Apprenticeships at Chippewa Valley Technical College, the focus of her conversations with students was on apprenticeships, with her saying, 'We really want to get into middle school and high school and talk to students about what an apprenticeship is, because they usually don't have a good idea of what an apprenticeship is and the options that they have for their career pathways as they get older.'
After the day starts with a keynote speaker, all seventh graders broke out into groups and would visit the professionals set up in the commons throughout the morning. Groups that would wait for their rotation entered into classes where they learned about soft skills valuable in the workforce and career clusters. The event ended with an entrepreneur panel, where students could ask questions from local business owners and leaders.
For eighth graders, the opportunity extends out to the community, as students meet with local businesses at their places of employment to learn about their different careers.
Through interacting with the students, Colleen Chmelik, social studies teacher, said the student's favorite part is when they get to go into the commons and speak with people from different careers.
'It is great for students to hear from somebody besides their regular teachers of the things that are out there, and it makes it more real,' she said. 'We can tell them about the different career clusters, but being able to talk to somebody with experience in those areas that they may be interested in down the road makes a huge difference.'
With another year of JA in a Day at Altoona, Chmelik said, 'I hope they see that there are so many opportunities open to them and they find the fit that is perfect for them. Whether that is going right into the workforce into a career that they are really interested in, or going to higher education to achieve that goal of finding the job that they love.'
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