FUTURE FOCUS:  Cherokee High School

 

Graduation rate is an important topic at Cherokee High School. We are continually searching for ways to show students not only that it is important to have a high school diploma but also how a college degree or technical training improves their chances for employment in the future. After much discussion, we decided to begin a “Future Friday Focus.” On every Friday we planned to have a different career highlighted, including careers that only require a high school diploma and careers that need college degrees. After a few Fridays, we realized what a wonderful opportunity we had for community involvement at the high school. We began to call Cherokee graduates and ask if they could come in on a Friday and speak or write a biography of their lives since graduation. Since January, a pharmacist, a CAD designer at TVA, the manager of the Hawkins Co-Op fertilizer plant, a police officer, an electrician, a nurse and other alumni have agreed to speak to our students. The presentations on the intercom are only a few minutes long but contain lots of wonderful information for students.  The information is also posted on the Cherokee website. In April, we asked students to tell us about which careers they would like to hear information. We have developed a list from that to find alumni for the rest of this year and to begin next year. We feel this program is extending the knowledge of our students and encouraging them to follow their dreams. Graduates from Cherokee can be found in every walk of life. There are many careers and opportunities available for those students who prepare themselves for the future.

LOOKING AHEAD:  CAREER FAIR 2009

 

The second annual Hawkins County Career Fair, appropriately titled Looking Ahead,  was held on May 6th at the National Guard Armory in Rogersville.  Approximately 674 Hawkins County seventh graders visited the fair this year to get a glimpse of various occupations.  Several students gave us their summary of the event.

 

“On Wednesday, May 6, our seventh grade class traveled to the Hawkins County Armory in Rogersville to attend a career fair.  Once inside, there were fifty-four stations for us to visit and ask questions concerning different careers.  Some of the careers included medical technology, health services, veterinary care, eye care, and orthotics.  A number of area banks and our county utilities companies were also represented.  Each station had helpful information concerning the different careers they represented.

I think the career fair is a very good thing for students to attend.  It inspires students to begin thinking about what type of work they might enjoy.  It is important to take the right courses in school to help prepare for a career after graduation.  There were a lot of materials and handouts that we brought back with us to read about different careers and the coursework that is required.

I really enjoyed the career fair.  It made me begin thinking about what career I might want to choose.  I hope they have it again next year for all of the seventh graders to think about what they might like to do after graduation.  Thank you to all who made the career fair possible!”  Karla R., Bulls Gap Middle School

 

“Hmmm! There are a lot of ways to describe the career fair. One way to describe it would be a lot of people. There were a lot of people there with different careers. I liked it a lot, because I could learn about different careers for my future. I learned that most jobs that we want, or think about at our age, you have to have a good education. For example you have to go through high school, and go at least two or three years in college. You also have to remember that if you want a good salary you have to get your masters degree, or your doctorate degree. Another way to describe it would be a lot of demonstrations that they had there. Every booth that you went to had at least two or more things that described what that person does. For example, if you went to the veterinarian booth you would see that they had a cardboard box sitting up and it showed what you had to go through to get that job, and they even had a dog there that you could pet. So if you like animals that would be a good job for you. The final way that I would describe the career fair would be a lot of papers, candy, and pens! Every booth that you went to had different things that you could choose to take home with you. There were stacks and stacks of paper that told you what you had to do to go through to get that certain job that you want. That was a really great thing to do, because when I went home I read over the papers that had the job that I wanted to do, and now I know that if you want to be a doctor or surgeon you have to have your doctorate degree. Overall I think that the career fair was a good way to get us prepared for our future careers.” Kaitlin J., Surgoinsville Middle School