16-04-2025
Ridgedale Elementary holds Careers on Wheels Day
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — Ridgedale Elementary School held its annual Careers on Wheels Day for its Pre-K through 5th grade students on Tuesday, allowing them to learn about several different jobs they could have.
For Careers on Wheels Day, the school invites in different businesses throughout the community and parents of students to come in and share what they do, as well as how they use a vehicle to promote their career.
Some of the representatives on Tuesday included Mon Power, a finance company, a former law enforcement agent demonstrating fingerprinting, a coach from West Virginia University (WVU) to speak on the importance of education in athletics, the West Virginia Division of Forestry, City Crane & Equipment, as well as the Maintenance department for Monongalia County Schools.
'It's very important because having exposure to different careers is one of the standards that we like to promote for our elementary students,' said Principal Sheri Petitte.
Petitte told 12 News that this event has been put together for the past decade by school counselor Meghan Beech, adding that they've only had to cancel it once due to inclement weather.
'Careers are different and the level of education is different, but everybody has to learn,' said Petitte. 'They have to be able to do math, they have to be able to do reading in order to perform any of these jobs that are represented here today.'
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By participating in this annual event, Petitte says that the students are able to connect the lessons they learn in the classroom to real-world applications.
'We talk about all these things in the classroom, but we don't always have the opportunity to show students how it works in the real world,' she added. 'For them to be able to come out and be exposed to the careers and see how people are using math and science and reading, even social studies […] it gets them excited about wanting to learn and then take their skills to another level.'
Petitte shared that she hopes following this Careers on Wheels Day, that students are excited about their futures and begin exploring some of the different career options. 'College is a great thing but it's not for everyone, there are a variety of different trade schools that students can do too,' she stated.
She added that the staff at Ridgedale Elementary School also would like for the students to consider other options like the Monongalia County Technical Education Center (MTEC) and career opportunities through Monongalia County Schools.
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