Central Middle School Students Find Their Calling At Career Fair

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — The pleasure was all ours as 24 professionals from a variety of backgrounds met with sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students for their second career fair at Central Middle School in Evergreen Park.

Students had the chance to learn about career areas and what their futures may hold after high school and college. The career fair was hosted by Central’s National Junior Honor Society with their faculty advisor, Deborah Gibbons.

Myriam Morales, certified wedding/event planner

At past career fairs, professionals got up in front of a classroom to talk about their life’s work. The pandemic canceled the career fair in 2020 and 2021, but last year, Gibbons hit on the idea of setting up exhibit tables in the gym, so students could talk to a variety of people.

“Before speakers would be in a classroom so students could only see three people,” said Gibbons, who teaches eighth grade social studies. “It also puts a lot of pressure on the professionals to have to get up and speak before a group, even if they were kids. This way, they got to walk around.”

Sarah Adams, medical biller and coder (Photo by Adam Bosch)

Professionals were paired off with an NJHS student. Seventh-grader Adam Bosch ably assisted Patch by taking pictures of the fair. He also showed off the 1960s-era Smith and Corona typewriter loaned to us by typewriter aficionado Glenn Pniewski, of the Evergreen Park Recreation Department. Many wanted to know how mistakes were corrected on a typewriter, which led to a whole other conversation about white-out.

Eighth-graders visit the Patch table

Many of the professionals who came to the career fair were parents or teachers’ family members. The healthcare field was well represented, with an ICU nurse, medical biller and coder, respiratory therapist, an RN childbirth educator and an RN BSN, mixed in with a Chicago police officer, wedding and event planner, an Evergreen Park trustee, a fashion designer, two librarians, a journalist and a construction consultant.

A CMS seventh-grader tries out the Smith-Corona

Students came with pre-prepared questions, such as job challenges, special tools and equipment, and how much money someone in their profession made. Gibbons warned that in the past, some students demanded to see a professional's pay stub. Most wanted to know if a college degree and special training were involved. One student asked how old someone was, marveling that they had been in the game for 40 years. And if students walked out with anything, they know how white-out works.

Tr. Carol Kyle, with her grandson, Kyle Keyser, CMS eighth grader (Adam Bosch/Photo)

Central Middle School Career Fair (Adam Bosch/Photo)

Our first customers at the Central Middle School Career Fair