As part of Catholic Schools Week, middle school students participated in a Career Day on Wednesday and a Financial Literacy Fair on Thursday.
Career Day featured a wide range of presenters representing many professions, including a sign language interpreter, basketball coach, robotics engineer, physician’s assistant, and lawyer. Students learned about each presenter’s career path, what a typical day looks like in their field, and had the opportunity to ask thoughtful questions. Eighth grader Anabella shared, “I’m glad we did Career Day because I am going to high school next year, so it is important for me to think about possible careers, although I don’t need to decide right now. The presentations were inspiring and showed me lots of options for the future.”
Career Day began several years ago as a way to expose students to the many possibilities available to them in the future. Students were reminded that they do not need to know exactly what they want to be at this age, but that exploring interests and opportunities is an important first step.
The following day, students participated in a Financial Literacy Fair presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers, where students picked a career to determine their salary. PwC staff members transformed the gym into an interactive learning space, setting up stations that simulated real-life financial decisions. Students used their salary to rotate through tables tracking monthly expenses, taxes, and other costs, ultimately seeing how much money they would have left at the end of each month. The experience was both educational and thought-provoking. Eighth grader Delia reflected, “The Financial Literacy Fair was a great experience. I didn’t realize how much everything really costs, and I learned that you have to budget for all of those things. We even learned the cost of things like housing and taxes.”
A special thank you to the following Saint Columbkille Partnership School parents who generously took the time to present to our students on their careers on Wednesday:
- Juan Concepcion - Attorney
- Madeline Goh - Robotics Engineer
- Kerri MacSwain - Sign Language Interpreter
- Corey McCrae - College Basketball Coach
- Jill Roncarati O’Connell - Physician Assistant and Health Services Researcher
We are grateful to our community partners, parent volunteers, and presenters who helped make these meaningful learning experiences possible for our middle school students.