Local students attend career day at WVU-P

PARKERSBURG - More than 1,000 fifth-grade students learned about a wide variety of careers Tuesday at Wood County Schools annual career day.

Called "Exploring Our Tomorrows," the event brought students from around the county to West Virginia University at Parkersburg to meet local professionals and learn about different jobs.

"It is an awareness day," said school counselor Michele Fling. "A lot of students see their teachers in class every day. They may know what their mother and father do for a living, but they really haven't been exposed to all the different kinds of jobs and careers out there.

"Each student will be exposed to five different careers," she said. "Though these might not necessarily be areas of interest for that particular student, it might get them thinking about what kind of job they would be interested in having."

Twenty-three speakers presented snapshots of nearly two dozen careers, ranging from journalism to law enforcement to physical therapy to restaurant management.

More than 1,000 students representing 19 different Wood County public schools attended the event. The day was split into five 20-minute morning sessions and five 20-minute afternoon sessions, allowing representatives to speak to more than 200 students each.

This was the second year for the county's fifth-grade students to attend the career day. In years past the event had been geared toward sixth-graders, but was changed last year following a county grade shift that moved sixth-graders into the district's middle schools.

Fling said students in West Virginia are required to begin choosing a career cluster, a particular focus of study, in eighth grade but counselors begin the process of talking about jobs and careers in kindergarten.