Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003023328
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Priscilla Moore, guidance counselor at the school for city children in grades 4-6, said she worked with the principal and teachers to plan activities throughout the month relating to careers.
Speakers have visited classrooms to talk about their jobs and the students have researched career-related topics. Fourth-graders studied the importance of self-esteem, fifth-graders dealt with social interaction and sixth-graders learned about the importance of education and careers they were interested in pursuing.
The object was to help the students understand why learning math or good manners was important to their future in the job market.
The month's activities culminated last week with a Career Day in the multipurpose room. The pupils spent a class period talking with professionals from the Radford area, learning about their careers and the skills involved.
With a variety of careers represented from pottery to computers, the youngsters could be excused if they spent more time having fun than learning.
The cosmetology booth, where two hairdressers displayed their tools, was perhaps the most popular, with boys and girls lining up to have their hair done. The punk look for boys and French braids for girls seemed to be the most popular, with both getting spray-on color highlights. Even a few teachers, Moore included, were drawn to the booth for a new look.
A woodworking booth also kept busy, carving out initials for the children.
Janice Martin, a fifth-grader sporting a new braid, said she enjoyed the displays even though she had to miss her favorite class to attend. She found the computer and fire department booths interesting but also was drawn to the booth on nursing because that's what her mom does.
Other booths featured drafting, pharmaceuticals, electronics, journalism, photography, chemistry and music. Almost every booth operator brought materials the kids could either try out or take home.
While several pupils tried their hand at sticking an orange with a syringe at the pharmacy table, others were fascinated as Dan Lookadoo, a professor at New River Community College, used a simple robotic machine to pick up a small wooden block and drop it into their hands.
Many children drew around to watch Karen Baldauf operate a potter's wheel and then grabbed handfuls of clay to make their own pinch pot or favorite animal.
Charlie Stewart, representing Telephone Security Systems, sat with Wilson Rankin of C&P Telephone. They reflected on the irony of what attracted the children.
As Stewart watched his wife fixing hair at the next booth and the children flocked to other displays, he and Rankin were temporarily without any interested students, as was a plumbing booth a little farther away.
Rankin pointed to a lap-top computer at his booth and said the children were definitely more interested in that type of equipment than the climbing gear that telephone linemen use.
"They can really make these things talk," he said, but he finds it sad that skills such as plumbing may become lost arts while computer operators will be "a dime a dozen."
Andrea Grose, a trumpet-playing music education major at Radford University, showed the children how to finger a violin and talked to several about signing up for music lessons.
"It's been a lot of fun. It's been real interesting," she said. "I wish I'd had something like this when I was in the fourth grade.
Wayne Frye, a detective with the Radford Police Department, was kept busy answering questions about law enforcement. He had met many of the pupils, he said, while teaching them to say no to drugs in DARE classes.
Although many were interested in trying out the handcuffs, picking up honorary badges and asking the detective if he had ever shot anyone, Frye said he had received some serious inquiries about the education needed to go into law enforcement. "I was kind of surprised, pleasantly surprised," he said.
Jess Foster, a fourth-grader, clutched a handful of handouts from Frye and other booth operators and sported a new spike hair style. He was sure his parents wouldn't mind.
"My dad was going to take me to the barber to get a spike," he said. "I got it free."
He said he was interested in police work because he thought he'd enjoy "busting people" and riding around in a patrol car. He said he enjoyed the exhibitions and picking up the literature and other goodies. "If they have it next year I'm going to come."
by CNB