Published: May 05, 2009 08:56 am      

Career Day set

About 290 fourth grade students will fill the halls at High Plains Technology Center when career professionals set up booths with information to foster awareness of careers.

Fourth grade teacher Cindy Brown of Horace Mann Elementary School said fourth graders from all over the county of Woodward would attend the May 7 event and visit with representatives from Woodward businesses.

“They’re just different businesses in Woodward,” Brown said of the fanfair. “Hopefully it will get some of them interested in a career.”

Asked why the career day would be geared toward fourth grade, Brown said the state of Oklahoma years ago required all fourth grade students to study careers.

“It’s been going on for many years,” Brown said. “I think they felt that was the best time to begin studying careers.”

HPTC counselor Amber Riley, who helped put the event together, said there will be 23 different career professionals at the event.

Schools attending include Buffalo, Fargo, Fort Supply, Gage, Mooreland, Sharon-Mutual, Woodward and Darrouzett, Texas.

Many of the presenters will have hands-on activities, Riley said.

“This is the 15th year of the Career Day, she said, noting that HPTC Superintendent Don Bird started it when he was the counselor of the technology center.

“Students always have a great time and leave the event with a broader understanding of the world of career possibilities,” she said.

The students will spend about seven minutes with each presenter to learn the specifics of the business.

Some of the career presenters include a firefighter, an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, a banker, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a naturalist from Alabaster Caverns, an agriculture expert and Northwest Electric.

Also presenting will be a lawyer, a beautician, an optometrist, a dirt bike racer and a game warden, along with Woodward Hospital and an industrial trainer.