The eighth grade students of South Callaway Middle School got the job done during their first career day Tuesday.
Students created posters and prepared to answer questions about a career of their choosing after completing a career assessment through Missouri Connections. Tina Stone, the school's counselor, has students take a career assessment every year, but this is the first year that Stone and Tim Rickerson, the eighth grade communication arts teacher, teamed up to make it a project the students could turn into a presentation.
During the fair Tuesday, South Callaway students grades three through seven shuffled into the middle school cafeteria to learn about the different career options available after high school and college.
"It not only builds eighth grade student interest, but it exposes younger students to different careers," Rickerson said.
To prepare for the fair, students had to research a career of their choosing and answer questions, such as the educational background required to get into a particular career field, the kind of lifestyle a person who has that career has and what the job entails.
"The students really drove the project," Rickerson said.
Careers present at the fair included airplane technicians, chefs, construction workers and make-up artists among many others. Some even went as far as to dress the part to give attendants a better idea of what kind of gear or business attire might be worn in a certain field.
Parents were also requested to attend the function through invitations the eighth grade students created, and many were in attendance. Employees of Ameren Missouri also attended the career day and brought along a prop that entertained students by conducting static electricity.
Stone and Rickerson who got the ball rolling on the event were happy with the day's turnout and hoped to make the project an annual event. Twila Collier, the eighth grade math teacher, was also interested in including her students in the project by proposing a budget for the following year, Stone said.
"This project gives them direction," Rickerson said. "In middle school and high school it's hard to be motivated to go to school if you don't know what you're going for."