COLLEGES AND CAREERS 101

It’s never too early to start thinking about colleges and careers. To that end, Hauppauge School District’s Middle and Elementary School students recently had an opportunity to learn about different colleges and to explore numerous career paths during College and Careers Week.

More than 70 5th grade students at Bretton Woods Elementary School volunteered to be career ambassadors and to present special library research projects on careers to their fellow kindergarten through 4th grade students. Some of the professions the career ambassadors explored included a: surgeon, veterinarian, dancer, carpenter, farmer, chef, CSI, marine biologist, astronaut and many others. Some students even dressed the part in uniforms required for specific careers, while others created elaborate display boards depicting the responsibilities of their dream jobs. A Dress for Success Day, College Exploration Day and Career Fair Day also were some of the activities presented as part of Bretton Woods, Forest Brook and the Pines Elementary School’s College and Career Week activities.

In the months leading up to College and Careers Week, Hauppauge Middle School 8th grade students were given the opportunity to select careers that matched their interests and abilities. Speakers from each profession were solicited from the community to present to small groups of students about their careers. This year, more than 30 community members volunteered their time to participate in Career Day. This allowed for a great variety of careers to be presented, giving the 8th graders an opportunity to learn about the careers they were most interested in. Each group additionally was comprised of under 20 students to facilitate an ease of interaction between the speakers and the students.

Career Day kicked off with all of the eighth graders meeting in the auditorium to review their instructions for the day. The students were encouraged to use a list of suggested questions for the speakers. They then rotated through four, 25-minute sessions where they heard from three career speakers and one college panel. The college panels consisted of a college representative, a college student and a high school senior who is engaged in the college selection/application process. The panel helped the students understand how they could maximize their up-coming high school experience to best prepare themselves for the college selection process.

Students were required to turn in reflection assignment about what they learned on Career Day. All of the students selected one career from the presentations and explained why they believe they could be successful in that profession. “Overall, Career Day ran very smoothly. All of the presenters were highly informative, and the students were engaged throughout,” stated Erik Clark, Hauppauge Middle School counselor.