Pismo Beach middle school students learn about different occupations at annual career day
PISMO BEACH, Calif. - Hundreds of Judkins Middle School students in Pismo Beach took part Friday morning in a popular annual event that lets them explore different career opportunities.
For about two hours, the school held a career day inside Tyree Gymnasium where all of the students on campus, in both 7th and 8th grades, were able to meet face-to-face with more than three dozen professionals from the local workforce.
"It's a chance for kids to get a new view into possible careers that they can look in to after high school," said Hopi Tocher, Judkins Middle School Counselor Intern. "We're pretty stoked that we have this opportunity for our kids here at Judkins. By allowing them to have the direct contact with the different organizations that we have here is a chance for them to get to have a more in-depth experience with possible careers rather than just what they look up online."
On hand for the event were representatives from a wide-range of different occupations, including education, law enforcement, firefighting, mental health services, youth mentoring services, agriculture, TV news reporting, and many others.
"You get to go walk around, see a bunch of careers, and if there's one you're thinking about, then you could ask about a day in the life and see if you want to do it," said Hayden Scholl, Judkins Middle School student.
Each student asked the professionals of their choice a list of questions given to them from the school.
They were then allowed to interview the guests questions, which dealt with what education is needed for their occupation, what special training is required, what a typical day looks like, what each person liked about their job, etc. The students were instructed to interview at least three presenters.
"It helps you find your path, and if you kind of stuck on your path and it really just helps you, like, know what you want to do and what you want to be," said Holly Spomer, Judkins Middle School student.
Many of the presenters provided giveaways and prizes for the students, making the event both entertaining and educational.
"Career Day is really fun because you to meet all these professionals and they get to tell us about their jobs and they get to tell us fun, and like, maybe we want to do that when we get older," said Otto Schroeder, Judkins Middle School student.
One of the presenters during the career day was longtime News Channel 3-12 reporter and community liaison Dave Alley.
The event served not only as a chance for him to speak with students about working in the television news industry, it also marked a homecoming too.
As a Pismo Beach native, Alley grew up just a few blocks away from Judkins and attended middle school there many years ago.
