“What do you want to be when you grow up?” a repeated question asked as a child grows up. The question may remain the same from day to day or year to year but the answer is always varying, at least for most.
Cokeville High School Principal Kenneth Dietz, school counselor Rylee Lester and South Lincoln County Economic Coalition representative Sarah Dayton have teamed up to bring a series of Career Days to the student at Cokeville High School (CHS).
The main drive for this quarterly event was the junior class scoring in an advanced placement on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). According to ASVAB’s official website the test is “a multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military. It is administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school, and post-secondary students.”
Arithmetic reasoning, mathematics knowledge, paragraph comprehension, and word knowledge are the four areas that ASVAB covers.
Dietz had talked to Lester about it and within the same week Dayton contacted the school about the idea of helping the students see the wide variety of options available, capabilities and what is possible.
During the 30-minute daily period students have and will be learning more about some of the careers students have said they would be interested in going into or learning more about. The first two career exploring dates were November 12 and January 29. Two more are slated for March 17 and May 13. In previous years the upper grades were able to attend a one-day career fair in Kemmerer; but it was only held every other year.
At the beginning of the week students find out what careers will be highlighted, and they are able to choose which of the three presenters they want to hear. After the sessions the kids are given a survey to gauge the interest of those that are presented and to ask if there are other professions they would like to learn about.
The presenters are given a list of questions prior to the presentation, so they use the time wisely. The November and January presenters were all locals, whereas the two future dates will have a mix of locals and non-locals.
Careers that have been explored include pediatric oncology nurse, electrician, education (teacher and administrator), physician assistant, police and agricultural banking. Careers students would like to include veterinary, diesel mechanics, welding, broadcasting, journalism, occupational therapy, Exxon opportunities and Terra Power opportunities.
Students have responded well and have been good at giving feedback according to Lester. She shared some of their survey insights; “really cool, good learning experience,” “learned more about my family’s job” and “I might consider this after the discussion.” She is excited to continue the career exploring into next year.
