Page 36 - November 2019 proof 7 Castle Pines Connection

36 CastlePinesConnection.com
Rocky Heights Middle School brings career
day to the students
By Kaeli Nallathamby, RHMS intern writer; photos courtesy of RHMS
Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce (DCSO) canine Scooter spied a ball during RHMS career day presentation with his handler Deputy Brad Proulx.
The future often seems far o and distant, but eighth grade students at Rocky Heights Middle School (RHMS) looked at what their future careers might look like. This fall, RHMS brought career day to the students.
The entire eighth grade class met Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce Deputy Proulx and his dog Scooter before students broke into smaller groups and rotated through the other speakers
RHMS students learned about various career paths during this years’ annual eighth grade career day.
within their team. Each school team saw ve di erent speakers with di erent career choices.
Among the speakers were Rock Canyon re science students Aiden Roberts and Aiden Brabec, social worker and therapist Elizabeth Matson, Denver 7 tra c anchor Jayson Luber, aerospace engineer Shannon Cotton and Global Travel Alliance employee Ryan Sparzak. Most speakers explained how they got to their job, what their job entails and then they answered students’ questions about their own career path.
The speakers provided details regarding their speci c jobs, and students were able to apply the common principles across multiple disciplines, inspiring them to learn more about a variety of potential careers.
The perfect example of this inspiration
was provided by Cotton, speaking to the engineering profession: “Engineering is not about knowing the right answer, it’s about knowing where to nd the answer. You don’t have to know everything.”
When asked how the career day experience was, Castle Pines eighth grader Emerson Yu said, “I didn’t really know how early newscasters had to wake-up. I thought the set was really cool and it was awesome that he was able to show us that.” Another Castle Pines student, Grace Bruns, said, “It was very fun. We learned a lot from it and how we can pursue our future [careers].”
Matson said, “My favorite part of my job
is helping people nd their hope.” That's what she did. Instead of telling students why they should become therapists, she focused on teaching students to do as she did, take their favorite hobbies, and turn them into a career path. Matson said she really enjoyed talking to people throughout her entire childhood, so she pursued being a therapist.
“Career Day is a great opportunity to spend time with kids, and hopefully I educated them and o ered a look into a business
that they probably don’t know a lot about,” stated Luber.