Exploring careers

Moving their hands as fast as they could, Seymour Middle School students Dana Cockerham and Blue Fox raced to see who could take the most wooden pegs, flip them and insert them into a board full of circular holes.

It was a test of their hand-eye coordination skills — the exact test Cummins Inc. gives its factory employees.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Cockerham said.

Although she won by a few pegs, Fox agreed it wasn’t easy.

“I’d probably get faster if I kept doing it,” she said.

The hands-on activity drew interest from many of the more than 300 eighth-graders from SMS and Immanuel Lutheran School who took part in the annual Real World Career Day in the middle school gymnasium Wednesday.

“I learned you really have to have good hand-eye coordination to work in a factory,” Cockerham said.

Liz McPherson, human resources associate with Cummins, said the event is a good way to get middle school students thinking about their futures.

“This is the age when they are the most impressionable,” McPherson said.

When talking with students and answering their questions, McPherson said she emphasized education.

“It’s good for them to know that education is important,” she said.

She explained that if they were to go to college they could find jobs at Cummins in engineering, marketing or human resources.

“When they asked what kinds of jobs they could land right out of high school, I told them they would be working in the factory,” McPherson said. “We talked about the difference in wages and how the factory jobs pay $10 an hour but with a college degree they could double or even triple that amount.”

Organized by Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. in partnership with the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, the Career Day event serves as a culmination of the 21st Century Business Program, which is taught by volunteers from the local business community to eighth-graders at both SMS and Immanuel.

Jody Deckard, work force partnership coordinator for JCIDC, said the 21st Century Business Program, now in its 30th year, teaches students real-world skills and introduces them to people working in jobs they may be interested in.

“It’s an excellent way of connecting eighth-grade students with the work force,” Deckard said.

For one class period, once a week, students are taught lessons in work ethic, finances, including how to write a check and balance a checkbook, using credit and debit cards and purchasing stock, accountability, work skills, career exploration and communication.

The program lasts 10 weeks.

“Many of the students are not learning these basic skills at home,” Deckard said.

SMS social studies teacher Kris Kleber said the business program as well as Career Day are great resources for the students now and in the future.

“The goal is to expose the students to business principles they are already beginning to experience,” he said of the 21st Century Business Program. “Like managing money, setting up a budget and job interviewing.

“The career fair takes it a step further and lets the students meet people in those careers and interact with potential employers. We really want to keep people in our community, and making these connections early is one way to do that.”

Student Zefe Trejo said he was learning a lot Wednesday by visiting the more than 30 business, education and service booths at Career Day.

“There are a lot of different requirements and skills I didn’t know you had to have,” he said. “Most of these jobs require a degree. You can’t have just one skill and expect to get a job.”

Both Cockerham and Fox said they were interested in careers in nursing and talked with employees of Schneck Medical Center.

“I know what options are out there now,” Fox said of Career Day’s benefits.

Trejo said he was most interested in a career in law enforcement or emergency services and made sure to stop by and talk with representatives from Seymour Police Department and Jackson County Emergency Medical Services.

“I’m thinking about a career as a police officer or firefighter,” Trejo said. “I’ve always liked helping people and I’ve always looked at them as heroes.”

Elliott Samons, Ian Hensen and Christian Hickman were also finding out what it takes to be in law enforcement by talking with Seymour Police Cpl. Ernie Davidson.

“It’s interesting, but I don’t think it’s something I want to get into,” Hensen said. “I want to go into sports broadcasting.”

All of the boys said they were surprised when they found what classes they need to take in high school and college to get a job.

“You have to know a lot of math with any job,” Henson said. “And good communication skills.”

Hickman said he’s thinking about a career in the medical field as a cardiologist.

“My dad had a heart attack,” he said. “That’s why I think I want to be a heart doctor.”

Although he wasn’t able to talk to a cardiologist, Hickman did talk with employees of Schneck during Career Day.
“It gives you a bunch of ideas,” he said of talking to the different employers.

Student Justin Snider said he didn’t know which career was his favorite.

“There’s lots of stuff, so many to choose,” he said.

One thing he did like was all the free pens, pencils, candy and other items he collected from each of the businesses.

Stopping by Seymour Animal Hospital’s booth, Snider talked with veterinarian technician Amanda Walker.

“I got to count how many teeth a dog has,” he said. “There’s 40. That’s a lot.”

Walker used models of a dog’s mouth and cat’s mouth to show students the differences and similarities between the two.

“They are also learning that a cow has four stomachs and that pets get heart worm from mosquitoes,” she said.

This is the fourth year Walker has been a part of Career Day.

“It teaches them things about different careers and guides them to what they might be interested in,” she said. “I have a lot of fun with it.”