While high school is still next up for these young scholars, Dean of Middle School Destiny Moore said the event was an attempt to get students to think about what they wanted to do for a career.
The middle school group was split into two sections: sixth grade, and seventh and eighth grade. Each group went around from classroom to classroom in a speed-dating style fashion to speak with professionals from a plethora of different industries. Moore said professionals at the event included an esthetician, a hair stylist, a bank employee, a mental health therapist, a school board member, a music producer, a singer, several small business owners, a health care worker, and a police officer. Even Center Line Prep’s Principal Veronica Kisor participated as a professional for scholars to speak with.
The event hosted a variety of professionals from the local community, including small business owners, health care workers, a music producer, and many more.
In these sessions with local professionals, scholars started with a list of questions Moore procured and then had the opportunity to ask their own questions. Moore said the conversations were engaging and insightful for students and professionals alike.
“They had a lot of good questions,” Moore said. “They asked things like ‘What is hard about your career? What have you learned through it? What type of education did you need?’ They asked about short- and long-term goals, which was important because a lot of these kids want to start their own businesses.”
Career Day allowed scholars to ask engaging questions and learn more about what they want to do for a career.
The event also gave scholars an opportunity to get the feel of what it’s like to be a professional in all aspects, including dressing in business attire. The experience gave them a complete look at what getting a job in the professional world is like. Events like these are why it’s no wonder Center Line Prep has outperformed the local district for the past two years.
The community learned just as much as scholars did, taking away more knowledge about Center Line Prep. Numerous professionals were already looking ahead to next year’s Career Day.
The community members involved had many positives to take away and thought the event was beneficial for everyone.
Moore said the event was most beneficial because it gave scholars the opportunity to see what their future could look like.
“At the Middle School level, they don’t know who they are yet,” Moore said. “They don’t know what they want to do. I really wanted to give our students the opportunity to see people who look like them in the professional world.”
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About Center Line Preparatory Academy
Center Line Preparatory Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Center Line, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through 12th grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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