More Than A Career Day At Grove Park Elementary…It’s A Networking Event

There are a lot of great things to brag about Atlanta Public Schools but the students need more exposure to career opportunities to make the education process relevant.  Every child may not know exactly what they want to be when they grow up but every child should have a “DREAM JOB!”

Professionals come to the school to empower students by sharing their careers every year. While I was a student at Grove Park Elementary in the early 80’s, I remember a career day speaker telling the class about his career as an entrepreneur. It intrigued me so much that it became my back up plan to becoming a Major League Baseball player for the Chicago Cubs. Now I realize that entrepreneurs work hard every day so that we don’t have to get a job. 

I have participated in several Career Day events and I always leave wondering if I made an impact or if the students were bored like I was sometimes as a student.  Unless we meet the students “where they are”, we run the risk of having them feel that “I can’t do that.”  If we don’t connect with them, we can’t empower them.

What if the students could request the career day speakers that they wanted to hear from? What if they could read the bio of the speaker before they arrived? What if the speaker received a comment card or blog from the students afterwards that would allow him/her to know what the students learned. And what if the speakers presentation was captured in a binder so that the students and parents could have access to it when he/she leaves?

A good career day speaker is going to capture the attention of students but in order for it to truly be impactful, that presentation must remain accessible to the students.

I’m excited about this years Career Day at Grove Park because the students were surveyed and here are the careers that they want to be exposed to.