CONNEAUT – The children are our future. It’s a common refrain that is usually followed up with some kind of pitch for an educational campaign.
Denise Miller, career education coordinator at A-Tech, and an army of professionals are working together to ensure children know they have a future through career days at Ashtabula County’s elementary schools.
“(Without the presenters), it doesn’t happen at all,” Miller said during Career Day at Gateway Elementary. “We cannot do it without them. I have the best, best job in the world. My ability to partner, and that’s what I say. I partner with these presenters. We build relationships together. And why? Why do so many people so bought in to come into the schools? Because we believe in our future? We believe that these children that are here right now are going to do amazing things. They have the same potential, maybe even greater potential, than where we are, and with a little bit of help and support from the adults in their lives, meaning us, we can show them and guide them into a successful life in the workforce.”
Career Day is an important supplement to the children’s education, something Miller takes pride in.
“What I do is help these kids make connections,” Miller said. “They’ve been through a year of learning at this point in their school careers. Now, when they’re going up to these presenters, and maybe you have somebody, like Becky (Donaldson) with the ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources), talking about standards that they already saw in science, whether it’s the life science standards, where they’re learning about life. She can identify a bug or a tree outside and connect it to what they’ve already learned in school. The same goes for math. We have a lot of careers here like electricians and plumbers. Kids don’t realize the amount of math and academics that are used in careers every day.”
“It’s making this learning that they’ve been through all year intentional, purposeful, and they’re making connections to jobs and careers,” Miller continued. “They’re able to connect their learning to the real world in a way that, one day, you’re going to use this measurement in a job one day. You’re going to have to know ‘perimeter’ or ‘area’ in your job one day.”
Participants at Gateway Elementary’s Career Day included Al Coccitto with Double A Towing; Shaina Neuman with Community Care Ambulance; Candy Estok with the Ohio Department of Transportation; a crew from the Conneaut Fire Department; Neil Simpson with Simpson Family Jeeps; Jenna Beaver with Madam Barber; Rebecca Donaldson with Ohio Department of Natural Resources – Scenic Rivers; Jake Adams with McHugh’s Plumbing; Mike Rutkowski with GreatWave Communications; Nichele Blood with the Conneaut Health Department; Monica Hammil with Alliance for Working Together – Manufacturing; Eric Scanlon with Lake Vibes; John Wooding with Sons of the American revolution; Shaun Williams with Save-A-Lot Distribution Center; Paul Rehbarger with Mentor Electrical JATC.
“I’ve had the opportunity to speak to these presenters, and first of all, I am so very grateful for them,” Miller said. “Every single person who enters and is willing to volunteer, willing to give their time, every adult here, they could be at work, so they’re taking time away from their jobs. They’re going to go back to a desk full of work or additional work because of the time that they put in here today. Having said that, they’re passionate about it. Each of these individuals wants to be here. They believe in these children. They want to inspire them and motivate them for their futures. The best way to do that is to be in front of them.”
“These children at an elementary age, the only knowledge they have of jobs and careers is really what they see at home,” Miller continued. “It’s your typical nurses, doctors, the top 10 career paths, and then what mom or dad or an aunt does. They don’t know what they don’t know. Who’s thinking about being a plumber or an electrician? Then, we have registered nurses. We have paramedics, we have EMTs. We’ve got certifications all the way to high-level master’s degrees that are science related. You get this variety of individuals in front of the students. It makes it real for them. You can’t be what you can’t see. Until those seeds are planted, they might never know that these jobs or careers even existed.”
Having a wide variety of professions with different kinds and levels of gives the students an awareness of the careers they could one day have.
“I think it’s extremely important, because my awareness increased upon taking this position, and kids need to understand that there’s skilled trades, there’s degree paths, and you can go directly into the workforce, or maybe you need to go directly to college to get a certification, a degree, for the work that you want to do,” Miller said. “Whenever we have a career event, I try to be sure that there is a variety of education levels in front of the students. Every grade level gets to experience a variety of presenters.”
Miller is careful to invite presenters who are passionate about their careers and are willing to share with the students.
“Let’s talk about wastewater, who I have had commitments from for all of the schools in Ashtabula County,” Miller said. “They are so committed to volunteer their time, whether it’s from Conneaut, they’re the guys from Ashtabula, every single time they get in front of the kids, they’re happy. They’re excited to be here.”
“The kids see this and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute. They love what they do,’” Miller continued. “When you put somebody in front of kids that has a natural ability to connect with kids, they relay information in a fun, exciting way, making it interesting and engaging. They bring little sewer robots so the kids can see. It looks like a game controller. (The wastewater guys) have to steer this little robot through the sewers. They’re showing them the advanced technology that’s used. An adult perception might be ‘Wastewater?’ or “Someone who cleans septic (tanks)? No!’ (The presenters) are making it into a good paying job, an excellent career, great benefits and they’re showing the kids that you can have a wonderful, happy, successful life if you want to do a job like this. And, they need workers, so just to see somebody excited to be in the position they’re in changes everything for children.”
