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On Friday, Lowndes County Public Schools’ Career Technical Center hosted an event emphasizing the many career opportunities available to students after high school. The emphasis, coordinated by Career Coach Samari Watts, provided an engaging experience full of fun activities and meet-and-greet opportunities between students and local professionals.

Lowndes County Schools Superintendent Samita Jeter addressed elementary school students from Jackson-Steele Elementary, Central Elementary and Fort Deposit Elementary schools to explain the day’s activities.

“How many of you think you can drive that 18-wheeler over there,” Jeter asked. “What about that ambulance over there? Today you’re going to see a wide variety of careers that you could possibly do when you become a grown up.”

Participating in the event were agencies serving Lowndes County, like the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), Haynes Ambulance, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, State Farm Insurance and several others. Also there to engage young learners were representatives of high school student organizations including The Calhoun School Junior Officers Training Corps (JROTC), JAG, SkillsUSA and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).

“When you turn 18, you can go to work and work on a job,” Jeter said. “You can go to college and go to school, or you can turn 18 and get on one of these vehicles. Whether you’re driving a fast state trooper car or the sheriff’s department car to help save lives, or the ambulance. You could even drive that school bus over there. Today, you’re going to see the different professions or different careers that you can think about now to determine what you want to do.”

The event was aimed at elementary-aged children to better prepare them for the opportunities they will encounter in high school, Watts explained.

“We’re working to merge the Career Tech Center with all of our schools,” Watts said. “When they get to high school, sometimes they don’t have exposure to different things. So, this is our big event to show them that we are concerned about youths, and we want to make sure they are prepared to come to high school.

Third through fifth grades attended the event in the morning. Later in the day, ninth through 12th grade students attended.

“We’re doing all these different things, and sometimes they get overwhelmed,” Watts said. “I felt like if we start now, they’ll be ready for it later.”