Onekama Students Dive Into Career Options at First-Eever Event

ONEKAMA — Onekama High School students learned about all the career paths that await during the school's inaugural Career Exploration Week.

"We call this a reverse career fair, so we are actually bringing the local professionals into our school and having our kids be able to interact and really explore what's out there," said Kim Sinke, guidance counselor. "We're really grateful for the partnership that we have with our community professionals, that they are willing to take a day off of work and come here and meet with our students, and expose them to the world of work and the different pathways to get there."

Monday saw the students visiting with mental health and human services professionals from the Manistee Intermediate School District and Centra Wellness .

On Tuesday they learned about the trades from representatives from Hopwoods Heating and Cooling , J and J Plumbing, Team Elmer's , UA Local 174 Plumbers and Pipefitters , and Northstar Automotive .

Wednesday various military branches visited the school and Thursday had representatives in public health and safety.

"They came here to meet one-on-one with our kids and expose them to their actual field and then careers within that particular pathway," Sinke said.

The school organized a summer job fair exposition on Friday.

Hailey Hart, who is a junior, mentioned on Thursday that she found Career Exploration Week to be quite advantageous.

She mentioned, 'Before this week, I didn’t know what alternatives were available out there.' She believed she was solely focused on attending college, so it’s reassuring to discover that various choices exist.'

Hart mentioned that she gained valuable insights into various career options she had previously not thought about.

"I was simply at the Coast Guard (table) for like 20 minutes — that was really good. On Monday ... we had some of the local teachers and health aids in here. We were talking about speech therapy and I really liked that, too," she said. "And the Naval Academy , that was really cool (on Wednesday). ... They were telling us how they have a four-year program and then you can go serve for five years after. ... I wouldn't have known until this week."

Sinke said Career Exploration Week is just one of the many ways the district has been preparing students for life after high school.

She mentioned that this autumn, they organized several career talks featuring professionals from various fields addressing smaller student groups interested in those specific careers. In May, they plan to introduce Career Mondays for sixth through eighth graders; during these sessions in May, students will gain exposure to different professions.