Littleton Career Day big hit with students, teachers
From a veterinarian to firefighters, to bankers, lawyers and more, local professionals talked about their careers at the recent Career Fair at Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School.
Students were able to learn about different career choices at various stations with talks and demonstrations, and ask the professionals questions about what they do.
“This is an opportunity for generating ideas of what the students want to be when they become an adult,” said Littleton Principal Monica Broughton. “Career Day allows them to explore the different professions.”
“We had live speakers here clearly communicating about their careers,” said Assistant Principal Robert Cooper.
“My class really enjoyed the career day,” said teacher Karen Clifford. “They asked good questions and found the different occupations to be very informative. It was a great way to bring the ‘real world’ to the 4th and 5th graders.”
Each professional was assigned a school ambassador to help with the busy day. They included students Anthony Michaelessi, Tresika Barrett, Tierra Broughton, Dagoberto Ramirez, Colton McMullen, Fernando Bautista, Nandini Patel, Hailey Countryman, Lori Beaver, Chloe White, Brandon Ower and Ian May.
“Student and teacher feedback was extremely positive,” said, Guidance Counselor Nancy Beatty. It was so successful, she said, that she received numerous e-mails right after the event. “I can’t wait to do this again next year.”
She kept the event extremely organized, moving and fun, keeping students going with a bell every six minutes, to move them from station to station, so the 180-plus students could see as many professionals as possible in the allotted time.
One extremely popular career station was that of local veterinarian Sharon Powell of North Shore Animal Hospital, who talked to the students about helping animals.
Another popular animal-oriented station was from the Shell Factory & Nature Park. Cathie Severa-Jatzke, Shell Factory Nature Park manager, with the help of school ambassador Hailey Countryman, let children meet and greet several exotic animals.
Other professionals included Cpl. Steve Latorre of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office with School Ambassador Fernando Bautista.
Others who talked about different careers included jeweler John Michael, lawyer Esmond Lewis and firefighters from North Fort Myers including Frank Rizzo and Heather Reichel.
Scott Ower, of L.B.L.W. Transport, brought his semi-truck. “There were some very good questions about career choices,” he said.
Florida Gulf Bank representatives included Beth Countryman and Patti Anne Nicholson who both said they had a great experience at the career day.
Journalism was also one of the careers profiled. The North Fort Myers Neighbor had a station, with the message that reading and writing is important to any current class and future career.
Students asked many questions on how to become a writer, and learned that computers were a big part of journalism today, including that most reporters do “breaking news” on the Internet, along with Facebook and Twitter applications. The students were also invited to submit their news stories about the day.
The ambassador to The Neighbor was Tresika Barrett, who was more than helpful with over 180 students participating in the fair.
Another popular station was the North Fort Myers Fire Department display featuring firefighters Heather Reichel and Frank Rizzo. “We are talking about fire safety in a house and how to be a firefighter,” said Reichel.