Laurie Roule used to be a history teacher at STEM Middle Academy in Springfield, Mass. Then she decided to switch careers. And now she’s helping sixth, seventh, and eighth graders think about their careers as the academy’s City Connects coordinator.
“I taught eighth grade forever,” Roule says. “And eighth grade is when students choose what high school they want to go to. Kids usually just choose the most popular schools. So I thought it would be cool if they could be exposed to different careers, which might change their minds about where to go to high school.”
So Roule set up what has become an annual career fair, and she invites local professionals.
“I wanted the kids to know that there’s more out there than they’re aware of. And I want them to be curious and ask questions.”
“The people we invite to the fair have fun and love talking to the kids. So we have a lot of people who come back every year.”
That has included carpenters, electricians, firefighters who bring their truck, police officers, an archeologist, and a large animal veterinarian. Representatives from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy have come as well as a nurse practitioner, paramedics, a physical therapist, crime scene investigators (CSI), a camera crew from Channel 40, a meteorologist from Channel 22, the director of a local music school, car detailers, and automotive technicians from Sarat Ford, a nearby dealership.
“When I went to high school, I was very interested in chemistry, but that wasn’t encouraged because I was a girl,” Roule says. “So I like to bring women in from many careers,” including a member of the CSI team. “I want the girls to know that they can go into any field they want to.”
To encourage students to talk to different professionals, Roule creates a scavenger hunt, asking kids, for example, to find a career based on education, or one that uses a hammer or a microphone.
Roule has also brought in the Wright Flight program into the school, a nonprofit organization that teaches students about aviation.
“Our kids would have never imagined that in seventh and eighth grade they could learn to fly a plane and actually fly on their own,” Roule says. “The adult pilots are up there with the kids, but for 20 minutes, the kids have control of that plane.”
The career exposure works. Students get to see a wide range of choices and imagine what they might one day be.
“One student told me that they really liked meeting a psychologist who came, and that student might want to be a psychologist when they get older.”
And as one professional told Roule, the career fair can be an unexpected opportunity for adults to remember and reflect on what excites them about their work.
As for Roule herself, she loves the opportunity to work with students beyond the classroom.
“When you’re a teacher, you may hear about personal situations, and refer students to the school counselor. I found that I wanted to be the school counselor. And being a City Connects coordinator is great because I get to help kids by finding the support they need, bringing in outside resources, and putting those resources where it’s easy for kids to reach them.”
