Northview — Sixth-graders in Marli Oliver’s class at Highlands Middle School recently completed a study on careers, where they researched various career paths, studied hard and soft skills, learned about degree requirements for certain positions, discovered salary grades in different industries, and more.
We spoke to a few students toward the end of this unit to see what dreams they have for their future careers, and how this unit may have helped crystallize those ideas.
Shane Keasey
What is your dream? “I’d like to be an archaeologist.”
Why is this your dream? “Ever since I was little, the past has always interested me — like dinosaurs and that sort of thing. It’s very interesting to see what things ancient humans created, like ceramic objects and such.”
How are your teachers and this career unit helping you achieve your dream? “I’d say (the career unit) helped me learn a lot more about the profession, the things I’d be doing, and it just really sounds like the thing for me. What surprised me is that the average pay is like $30 an hour for an archaeologist, which seems pretty good. And I’m learning that a lot of archeological digs take a lot of time, and a lot of archaeologists have to travel a lot. I think that might be a challenge for me, but I do like traveling. … It’s just so interesting learning about (archaeology) and I’m glad that I have this class to do it.”
Teyanna Broyles
What is your dream? “I want to be a real estate agent.”
Why is this your dream? “I just like designing things, remodeling and decorating the houses my way.”
How are your teachers and this career unit helping you achieve your dream? “We were exploring colleges and I learned that you have to get some school training and an associate degree to have a license for real estate, and I know I will be able to do that.”
Jeannie Reckner
What is your dream? “I want to be a civil engineer.”
Why is this your dream? “Since I was like 5 I’ve had these three options in my mind — architecture, structural engineer or civil engineer — because I really enjoy construction, building and making things better for the community. What really got me to move more towards (being a) civil engineer is that when I did more research about it, I learned that civil engineers can help the environment — like, they help build bridges so that people can get across rivers and they help small towns, and that made me think it just feels like the job for me.”
How are your teachers and this career unit helping you achieve your dream? “I think the math we’re learning will help in engineering, and all the projects we do throughout the year, and I just really like school. I want to go to MIT, and I’ve heard it’s a hard school to get into, but I think If I learn enough I can do it. … At first I thought (the career unit) was kind of long, but the more I was learning, the more I was realizing that I still liked civil engineering. You could research anything you wanted and I still came back to engineering.”
Read more from Northview:
• Dedication & drive, in the dojo and beyond
• Middle-school artists add ‘squish’ to second-grade designs
