Career Day Event Brings Professionals to Students

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<p>Students at Castle Park High School had the opportunity to learn about the choices they have in the job market this Wednesday at a career day event organized by South Bay Community Services (SBCS).</p>
<p>The after-school event brought together 19 guest speakers from many different professional fields, such as environmental engineering, law, fire and rescue, neurology, veterinarian care, and more, to this Chula Vista campus to engage with students.</p>
<p>Unlike traditional flyer-and-booth type of career days, this event featured classroom sessions with the professionals in attendance. Students were able to get first-hand accounts about what a day on the job is like for these professionals and how to prepare academically and professionally to enter the job fields they might be interested in. Students present at the career day had the opportunity to attend two half-hour speaker sessions.</p>
<p>Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, Chula Vista City Councilman Mike Diaz, Sweetwater Superintendent Karen Janney, and professional skateboarder turned engineer Kanten Russell spoke to students during a brief opening ceremony.</p>
<p>Russell, a Chula Vista resident, shared his experience with education and how he transitioned from the action sports world into engineering and design during the event’s opening.</p>
<p>“Believe it or not, a lot of the stuff I believed was not going to be important to me in school became very important in my current career,” Russell shared. “The most important thing to remember is that school and many things you don’t often think about allowed me to do things like design my own shoe line and skate parks. No matter what your passion is, you need a strong school background.”</p>
<p>Castle Park High Principal Vicky Mitrovich was pleased to have her high school host the event once again.</p>
<p>“The last time we last held a career day it was a success,” Mitrovic said. “Kids really enjoyed listening to the speakers about how to become a professional so when (SBCS) asked if we wanted to host again I said absolutely.”</p>
<p>“Sometimes kids don’t believe educators, so they prefer to hear these things from someone out in the real world,” Mitrovich added. “When students get a first hand account from professionals it gives them a clear vision of what it is going to take to do well in college and be able to break into a professional field.”</p>