NEWS

Event helps students explore career pathways

Madeline Zukowski

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Theisen 8th graders Sydney Harris, Samantha Wilson, Sunny Chen and Kejuan Valentine operate on a mannequin at MPTC during the Career Connections Academy program Thursday.

FOND DU LAC - Approximately 30 students sat on the floor of a Moraine Park Technical College classroom as an MPTC Emergency Medical Services instructor yelled, "Let's do this!"

He walked over to the other side of the room and turned on the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" on a boombox while the students started to perform chest compression on dummies to the beat of the song.

This is one of many hands-on experiences over 2,000 seventh and eighth-grade area students encountered during the Career Connections Academy. The academy, organized by Fond du Lac Works, a division of the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, takes students on virtual tours through several Fond du Lac businesses and gives them a glimpse of the many jobs that are offered in the fields of manufacturing, healthcare, services and agriculture.

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During this past summer, certain students were selected to upload a video of a local business in the area, taking a tour of the business and talking to business representatives on film. These videos, which showcased seven businesses total, were then shown to the 2,000 students Wednesday and Thursday.

"It's not realistic to think that we can get 2,000 students through some of these companies, so they can get a behind-the-scenes look but they're on tour with a student in the video," Sarah Dowidat, the director of communications at the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, said.

After watching the videos, each student encountered four "experiences," where they met with local businesses representatives of several companies in the fields, who described their jobs and provided a hands-on activity for the students.

Theisen 8th graders Ben St. John, Kegan Olig and Sam Schaefer take turns practicing CPR on a mannequin at MPTC during the Career Connections Academy program Thursday.

In the surgical technology room, students wore blue gowns and masks and used tools to perform "surgeries" on dummies. An MPTC instructor taught students how to take the vital signs, like temperature, using the tools medical office assistants use and students learned how to work with other personalities in the manufacturing project manager room. Even cosmetology was talked about in the MPTC barber shop classroom.

"We made a point of highlighting a wide array of careers at each business to show students that within the world of healthcare, for example, one can be a phlebotomist [professionals trained to draw blood], work in IT or be a maintenance mechanic," Bernadette Seefeld, the director of educational programs at the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, said. "By highlighting these different roles, we are teaching the students that there are many career options available along with varying levels of post-secondary and/or training needed for the different positions, all while showing the students that there is something out there for everyone."

Both Katie Stucky and Eli Theisen, eighth graders at Faith Lutheran School, were surprised how many jobs are a part of the manufacturing field.

"Manufacturing is more than just working in a factory," Stucky said. "There's more to it than what you think of."

Stucky learned that she didn't want to work with bodily fluids, like blood, so pursuing the profession of a doctor or a nurse does not interest her. Theisen, who is interested in the medical field, said this experience gave him multiple "cool" jobs to consider.

While the event showcased a number of different career paths, local businesses were able to show students that there were a number of career opportunities here in their own community, and work to build a strong, future workforce.

"I haven't thought about whether or not I'd move away (in the future), but there are lots of opportunities and businesses that are big (in the area)," Stucky said.

Overall, both Stucky and Theisen agreed that this was a beneficial experience for both of them to learn about what lies ahead.

"It was cool to see all the different careers and what (education) is needed for them," Stucky said.

Ryan Steckert of Wells Manufacturing talks to a group of Theisen 8th graders at MPTC during the Career Connections Academy program Thursday.

Reach Madeline Zukowski at 920-907-7968 or mzukowski@gannett.com; on Twitter:@madszuko.