Career Day’s Visiting Professionals Inspire Students

By Larissa Lytwyn

Newtown Middle School recently held its annual Career Day, featuring 26 professionals representing fields from industrial engineering to the culinary arts.

“One of our former guidance counselors always encouraged the idea of a career day for students,” said Kate MacKinney, one of the middle school’s three guidance counselors.

The unique event is the culmination of weeks of assessments using career guides and personality type testing to determine students’ potential vocational strengths.

The tools are provided through state grants, Ms MacKinney said.

“It is interesting to see the different categories different fields fall into,” she continued. Law enforcement, for example, is placed under a managerial level that also includes business careers.

“Students can identify how their skills can help them in jobs they wouldn’t otherwise think about,” Ms MacKinney explained. A person with highly developed math skills, for example, could apply their talents to nursing or other aspects of the medical fields.

“Most of the professionals we have visit are from the area,” said Ms MacKinney. “Many are parents who have children in the school system.”

Jack Hornack, for example, is a local artist whose work includes sculpture and painting. Mr Hornack has two daughters, one each in Newtown Middle School and Newtown High School, as well as a sixth grade son at Reed Intermediate School.

Students combine their skills and career interests in deciding which two of the 26 workshops they will attend.

The most popular workshops, said Ms MacKinney, have been culinary arts and sports-related marketing. Students also enjoy learning about K-9 units often because of a preexisting affection for animals, she said.

“Career Day allows students to learn how they can use their personal interests and their skills to pursue a career they can truly enjoy,” said Ms MacKinney.