First Career Spotlight Held At McKinley High School

Students meet with area professionals for advice and guidance for future career options

By Lori Sexton, Disciplinary Literacy Coach

This February, McKinley Senior High School hosted more than 75 professionals from various industries and facilitated more than 1300 student visits during their first Career Spotlight. Over seven days, students had the opportunity to visit with nurses from Aultman Hospital who specialize in infection control, as well as medical lab technicians, electricians, cosmetologists, attorneys, morticians, area business owners, marketing specialists, and graphic designers. Teachers signed up to bring their classes to the McKinley media center to better understand how their education translates to “real-life” careers.

Mindy Engler, our high school librarian who helped and saw each one of the career spotlight days, reflected on the event.

“It was great to see our students interacting with the adults and the students seemed to enjoy it and the professionals seemed to enjoy it. A success.”

Week one featured trades and military careers, followed by professionals, community and emergency services, and medical and health careers.

Almost all of our science classes had the opportunity to connect what they are learning in their classes with how it is applied in various medical careers. One student in Mr. Roger’s Material Science class asked, “Why don’t we do this every year?”

The event’s last day focused on service, retail, and hospitality careers. That day, students interacted with Rhoden Funeral Home staff and learned more about how they use a variety of skills to assist families during times of extreme grief.

Math teacher Jennifer Henderson said, “I think this event was fantastic. Students were able to see jobs in the community and were able to ask the professionals relevant questions on the spot.”

Physical Science teacher, Andrea Janssen, remarked, “This was an outstanding experience for my freshmen. They were exposed to many careers and professionals that they may never have had a chance to learn about. They really enjoyed it and were very engaged.”

Alysha Mitzel, AmeriCorps College and Career Guide at McKinley helped co-plan the Career

Spotlight, along with Lori Sexton, Disciplinary Literacy Coach, and Trenessa Wood, Assistant Principal. The goal of these interactions was for students to make connections between what they are learning in their classrooms with how it is applied in various careers and to give them exposure to careers they may not be aware of as options for planning their future.