ST. MARYS — The St. Marys Area Middle School hosted Career Day for eighth graders on April 8, and middle school librarian Ellen Stolarski reported that there were several new presenters among the 42 in attendance.
“We have a diverse array of industries, kind of like something for everyone,” Stolarski said. “The kids have spent two days researching the companies and organizations and coming up with questions.” Stolarski commented that exposing children to opportunities that they might not have known existed is one of the many benefits of hosting Career Day, and she added that the students were paired with professionals based on the results of interest surveys they had completed earlier.
Stolarski stressed that, “The big goal of the event is for them to have thoughtful conversations with their presenters for 10 minutes. All the career standards are based on soft skills, like ‘Can you solve problems? Can you cope with uncomfortable situations? Can you deal with hard things?’ Soft skills are defined as a combination of personal traits, behaviors, and social attitudes that help people interact effectively with others.”
Stolarski explained that with so many things being handled remotely, children need to learn to be physically and emotionally present and to communicate with others effectively.
Kate Wehler from the Elk County Conservation District has been making career day presentations at many different schools all over the county for 10 years and noted that this is one of the best organized Career Day events she’s ever attended. “The kids are well prepared. They’ve been told to look at the website of the presenters they will be talking with if there was a lull in the conversation.”
Stolarski noted that there are always follow up activities with the children, and presenters are asked to provide feedback by completing a questionnaire. These activities and responses are used in the planning of future Career Days. Stolarski’s comment after the event was, “Every year it feels like it gets better and better!”
Career Day businesses and organizations and their presenters included:
- Allegheny Contracting –Jacob Sorg
- Allegheny Electric –Rusty Johnson
- American Axle –Scott Sago
- Area Transportation Authority –Kelli Surra
- Beimel Baseball –Mike Beimel
- Bright Smiles Dentist –Alison Shufran
- CAPSEA –Lianne Schneider
- CenClear –Jacob Ross, Lyndsey Weidow
- Creative State of Mind –Photography Olivia Pistner
- Dickinson Center, Inc. –Katie Greenthaner
- Elk County Commissioners –Fritz Lecker
- Elk County Conservation District –Kate Wehler
- Elk County Council on the Arts –Sara Frank
- Elk County District Attorney’s Office –Beau Grove
- Elk County Office of Emergency Services –Rose Anna Ehrensberger
- Elk County Humane Society –Elizabeth Erich
- Elk County Prison –S. Atwell, A.M. Straneva, B. VanHorn,
- K. Coppolo
- EMS West Education –Jeffrey N. Reeser
- Farmer’s National Bank –Amber Lang
- Fox Township Firemen –Matt Klaiber
- Freelance Director –Greg Eldridge
- Gasbarre Products, Inc. –Cortney Fritz
- Georgia-Pacific –Curt Weisner
- Hoeganaes Corporation (GKN) –Dan Merritt
- Hoss’s Steak and Sea House –TBD
- Invisible Art Forms –Anna Grossman
- Keystone Elk Country Alliance –Ben Porkolab
- Keystone- focus on translation –Laura Egan
- Lynch Radkowski Funeral Home –Jeff Radkowski
- Lynch Green Funeral Home –Michelle Muccio-Krise
- Northern PA Regional College (NPRC) –Abbi Petrosky
- Oper Wuppertal- opera performance –Edie Grossman
- The Nutrition Group –Teresa Lodes
- Penn Highlands Healthcare –Katlyn Cappetta
- Phoenix Physical Therapy –Jarret Forcey, Brad Meholic
- Salon Cortina –Isabella Pistner
- St. Marys Area School District –Patty Dillinger
- St. Marys Area School District (Speech) –Lisa Alexander
- St. Marys City Manager –Joe Fleming
- St. Marys Police Department –Tom Nicklas
- St. Marys Public Library –Leslie Swope
- Upper Allegheny Health System –Bradley Chapman
