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Overcast Seaford students go career hunting
Eighth-graders at Seaford Middle School still have a few months before high school starts, yet they are already thinking about what they will be doing after their graduation in four years.
Students were exposed to dozens of career opportunities at the middle school’s annual Career Day on May 19, organized by teacher Carin Hoy. With the boys in button-down shirts, slacks and ties and the girls in dresses, the students dressed like they were on job interviews as they met with a variety of professionals for two hours that morning.
Each student got to explore three career possibilities, based on their interests. They also prepared numerous questions for the professionals who volunteered their time to share their expertise.
“I hope that they realize that there are so many opportunities for them in terms of their futures,” Hoy said. “I hope it clears their path to success.”
Hoy said that more than 80 people attended, representing numerous careers including law enforcement, business, health care, entertainment, culinary arts and more. Many are parents of current students, while others have seen their children graduate from Seaford yet still come back every year to talk about their jobs. Hoy said the school has been hosting Career Day for more than a decade, and she has run it for the last three.
She said the reason they host this program for eighth-graders is so they realize the importance of the decisions they make in high school. Their grades from freshman year on will be on their transcripts that colleges look at. They have elective courses that could help them decide on career opportunities. In high school, Hoy said, they need to be serious and focused on graduation.
“The messages at every table,” Hoy said, “is the same about setting goals and achieving those goals.”
Cara Griffin, whose son is in eighth grade, came in to talk about her career in the pharmaceutical sales industry. “It’s so competitive,” she said of the working world. “It’s so important to keep it top of mind what they want to do, or at least think about it.”
Griffin said she was asked a lot of questions about the skill set needed to do her job, and what she does and doesn’t like about the profession.
Eighth-grader Marco Botto explored three careers — licensed professionals and trades, law enforcement and business finance. He said he learned about the responsibilities in each of these areas and how to advance in those fields.
“It gives you a taste of what you can expect in jobs in the future,” he said. “You get a good amount of time to talk to people who know what they’re doing.”
Joe Simone, whose father, Jon, is a compliance officer, was supposed to speak at Career Day but was called away on business to Australia. As a special treat, the school arranged a video conference that day between Joe and his dad.
“It was surprising because unfortunately he couldn’t make it,” Joe said. “He surprised me when I saw him on the screen. The excitement on my face and the excitement on his face told the whole story.”
He explored business and finance, animal care and disability services at Career Day.
Grace Saletto got a taste of the entertainment industry, writing and the culinary arts. She said all were interesting.
“I liked getting a chance to find jobs that might interest me,” she said. “This is a good experience for me. I got a lot of helpful tips from everyone here.”
