Freshmen See Careers Up Close and Personal on Career Day on Wheels
By Bethany Freitag
April 25, 2008
Nine groups of freshmen left Olympia High School on April 17, destined for different businesses and colleges as part of Career Day on Wheels. The mission of these students? “The main goal of the day is to give students a chance to explore possible career paths,” said Paul Seline, English teacher and one of the Tech Prep Team members who helped organize the day. Students were able to talk to people in a variety of careers and experience the physical environment of these occupations.
Where did students go? Some students headed for agriculture related sites, others headed for BroMenn Hospital for medical careers, some went to the Pantagraph and the Illinois State University Schools of Drama and Art for arts and communication careers. Freshman Zach Welch, with the Sports group, said that he went to Redbird Arena. Zach, who is interested in being a coach, was able to talk to the head football coach of ISU’s Redbird football team.
How did this all begin? At the beginning of the school year, freshmen took the Explore test which is designed to show freshmen what careers might be most suitable for them. One of the benefits of Career Day on Wheels is that students were able to see up close and personal if these careers were a true match.
Freshman Dani Williams commented, “Career Day On Wheels is basically a process of elimination, and, oh my goodness, I learned that in Pediatrics there are a lot of kids who need care.”
Freshman Brie Stewart remarked, “Ever since I was a little kid, I thought I wanted to be a radiologist, but Career Day On Wheels showed me that it is not a field I want to go into because I realized that it wasn’t as interesting as I intended it to be.”
Deb Brown, Tech Prep Chair, commented, “Career Day on Wheels continues to provide Olympia’s freshmen an excellent opportunity to observe several careers in their area of interest. I would also like to recognize Mr. Chase for all of his help with CDOW during the last 14 years.”
