Week 21: Career Day
The end of the school year is always a hectic time in Peril County. State mandated testing takes up the lion’s share of these final days, but Black Grass Elementary faculty and staff work hard to find ways to enrich and engage their students in ways that will improve their understanding of the community and offer insights on their potential as adults. This usually results in the mind-numbingly boring event knows as Career Day.
Everyone hates Career Day. Well, almost everyone. The students hate it because it always comes at the end of the school year and the only thing between them and Summer break is these final two weeks of drudgery. The community volunteers hate Career Day because they take time out of their busy schedules to talk to students that don’t care about anything more than lunch and the possibility of a kickball game later that afternoon. Even teachers hate Career Day because, while they get a break from the laborious task of instructing these thankless brats for just a few moments, they still have to sit in the classroom and hear about how wonderful these other jobs are that they could have done instead of wasting away in the classroom. The only folks who seem to think Career Day is a good idea are the folks who organize it; the principals and councilors who feel that the students need this kind of exposure to various career options. The types of careers these administrators choose to highlight, however, leaves quite a bit to the imagination.
Janie Smith had made a point of putting down CHEF on her requested career sheet. She had been giving a lot of thought to what she wanted to do after high school and working in the food service industry sounded right up her alley. She’d also included ARTIST as an option, since she loved to be creative. The last option she selected was MARINE BIOLOGIST. There was a dolphin screensaver on her laptop at the time.
Her brother Kyle hadn’t even bothered to fill out his sheet. “Forgot, I guess,” was all he said when their mom dropped them off that morning. The two made their way to first period at Black Grass Middle. Janie noticed the usual smell of industrial cleaner, teenager funk and body spray was a little stronger than normal this morning.
They found their seats as the bell rang. Mrs. Gibson, an experienced teacher in her 50’s, took roll and stood with a stack of papers in her hand. “As you well know, it is Career Day. I want you to be gracious to the guests that join us today. They are taking an interest in you, so you should be interested in what they have to say. I have your schedules for today’s event. We have three hour-long sessions this morning, followed by a picnic lunch on the football field and then a motivational speaker assembly. Are there any questions?” Her voice was high and looped up even higher to emphasize her points. There was a touch of accent there, Janie had noticed this year, that wasn’t exactly local.
Mrs. Gibson began handing out the sheets of paper in her hand. She got to Janie and placed it face down on her desk and then turned to do the same for Kyle before continuing down the aisle. Janie flipped over her sheet and scanned the writing. She gasped. “Mrs. Gibson, something’s wrong. I don’t think this is my schedule.”
She looked down at the sheet again to see her name at the top, followed by her student ID number. Then, a listing of Career Day guests to attend.
Nurse - Skye Green
Teacher - Amanda Nox
Cosmetologist - Jeanie Hughes
Janie read the list over and over, refusing to believe what it said. These were nowhere near the topics she had requested. What happened?
Mrs. Gibson finished handing out the papers as the class began to stir, sharing their schedules with their neighbors. “What’s the problem, Janie?” Mrs. Gibson asked.
“It’s these careers. I didn’t choose any of them,” she said.
Mrs. Gibson pursed her lips and nodded, knowingly. “I heard that they were some options that had to be cut due to a limited amount of space. Also, there were some that didn’t have much in terms of interest. Might have been that as well.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do? I don’t want to be a hairdresser. The thought of blood makes me want to puke and the last thing I want to do is stay in a school my whole life. I don’t like any of these!” Janie’s mind was racing as she thought of about a dozen other careers she might like more than teaching or nursing: sewer repair, roadkill remover, sauerkraut taste tester, others.
The teacher walked up to her desk and retrieved a note from the office. “I’m sorry, dear. But they’ve implicitly stated that there are to be no substitutions. The classes are only so big, I suppose.”
Janie stewed in her frustration for a moment. She looked over to her brother, who was doodling in his notebook. “What’d you get?” she asked. “Can’t be as bad as mine!”
Kyle’s face lit up. “Oh, I got a couple cool ones. Police detective, Diesel Mechanic and Bakery Owner.”
“Bakery! There is a food option, and I didn’t get it,” Janie said incredulously. “We gotta trade!”
He scrunched his forehead and gave her a look that screamed IN YOUR DREAMS! “No way! I like most of these.”
“You gotta let me have the bakery one. What period is it?
He looked down at his sheet. “Third. What do you have then”
“Cosmetologist.”
Kyle looked at her, confused. “Is that some kind of scientist?”
Janie stifled back a laugh. “Um, yeah. I think it’s something like that. You’ll love it. Cmon. Please?”
“Ugh, fine. It’s in room 124.”
She shook with delight. “Oh, thank you! Your’s is in 152.”
“Why not one of the science labs?” he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Must have run out of space,” she lied.
After a few more moments, the bell rang, causing the students to scatter across the school. Grades four through eight were participating in Career Day and the younger kids scurried about, excited to be around the “big kids.” Janie trudged down to her first session, which happened to be in the Health & PE teacher, Coach Nelson’s, classroom. She was one of the last to arrive and noticed that every student in the room was female. A short, pretty woman wearing mauve scrubs and white shoes stood chatting with Coach Nelson.
When the bell rang, Coach Nelson addressed the class. “Hey gang. We got a special guest with us here today. This is Skye Green from Black Grass Community Health. She was a student of mine not too long ago and now she’s an RN at our local hospital. Makes me feel old. But, just like you all, she was a student here at this school and now she’s doing very well for herself as a nurse. Please welcome Ms. Skye Green.”
The students applauded weakly. “Thanks guys. I appreciate that. Like Coach said, I went here just like you all and now I work as a nurse here in town. When I was your all’s age, all I could think about was growin’ up and movin’ away. But I want to tell you that you can stay right here in Peril County and make a good livin’.”
Janie sat patiently and listened for the next hour. She even asked a question when none of her classmates offered any during the Q&A session at the end of the talk. Skye made nursing sound better than Janie had expected. But the whole “blood and needles” thing was a deal breaker.
The second session wasn’t quite as predictable. Janie walked down to the library for her talk on teaching with Ms. Nox, the counselor at the local high school. Ms. Nox was tall and slender, with shimmering maroon hair and alabaster skin. She wore dark makeup with bright red lips. The smart pants suit she wore matched the school colors of black and green.
As Janie entered the library, three things instantly struck her: One, the smell in the library was unmistakably old books and wood polish, and the teen girl had to admit that it was pleasant. Two, there were a lot of students in this session; twice as many as her last class. And three, 90% of the students were female. The only boys in the class were a few ball players Janie didn’t know that well. The librarian, Mrs. Christian, motioned for the stragglers to come forward and find a seat before addressing the class.
“Looks like we’ve got another great group for our second session here.” She was a woman in her 30’s, stout and dark skinned. She wore pink horn-rimmed glasses that looked like they came from the 60’s. “Ms. Nox has been in the Peril County School system for a few years now. She is the current Guidance Counselor at the high school, but was the Graphic Arts teacher before that. She’s going to talk to you about the wonders of enriching young minds such as yourselves.”
Ms. Nox came forward and scanned the room. “Current data indicates that 5% of you will not manage to graduate high school. Of that 5%, half of you will go on to get a GED. For the ones that graduate or get a GED, just over 60% will attend at least some form of college or trade school, but only half of that number will finish with a certificate or degree. In total, roughly 17% of you will have at least a bachelors degree by the time you reach 30. At least 25% of you will receive some sort of Government Assistance in the form of SNAP, also known as food stamps, or Unemployment. Many of you will leave and make lives for yourselves outside of the region while the others remain here, where almost 40% of the population lives at or below the poverty line.”
Janie listened intently to these words. She’d heard most of this data in drips and drabs over the past couple of years, but to have it condensed like this was a little shocking. Ms. Nox’s voice never rose and gave no indication of any emotion at all. She delivered the information directly, surgically. This was not the talk that Janie had expected.
“I am sure you are wondering why I begin this way. I do so because I want to wake you to the realities of your home. I hear often in my role as a counselor that students can’t wait to leave and start over in Lexington, Knoxville or even Richmond and London. My constant response to these comments is running away from a problem doesn’t make it go away. It is a proven fact that great; not good, not adequate, but great schools do more for local economies than almost anything. Will corporations bring their factories to communities with middling schools and an untrained workforce? Of course not. Do community businesses whither when they don’t have smart, capable workers who can perform tasks and follow instructions. Absolutely. Does the world class heart surgeon come to work for our local hospital if his son and daughter is going to get a sub par education? Highly doubtful. So, where does it start? It starts with you.”
The energy in the room was electric. Students were listening to Ms. Nox’s every word, eager for what was to come.
“We need young, passionate people who want to change the face of this community to go and get their degrees and then come back here and make a difference. We need men and women who will not give up on this region just because it’s not perfect. We need you to be the next generation of teachers. No one is saying that it will be easy. Teaching is the hardest job on the planet. And no one is saying it will happen overnight. But it will never happen unless we commit to making a change.”
For a moment, Janie got swept up in the moment's fervor. She wanted to see the community do well. It’s what her mom had taught her to do. Mom was on the Chamber of Commerce and donated every Thanksgiving to the food pantry. Janie, for the briefest of moments, thought that maybe this was how she could make a difference, by being a teacher. But, then the thought of always being in a school blasted through her mind. And that ended the whole teacher thing dead in its tracks.
For the next forty-five minutes, Ms. Nox sang the virtues of teaching and how it was the best possible career. She even plugged the fact that teachers got summers off, just like their students. But Janie would not be swayed. Looking around the room, several faces glued to the speaker, hanging on her every word. It seemed she had done her job of recruiting some new teaching talent well.
The bell rang and Janie glided down to the Home Ec. room, where her next session was to be. When she got to the door, she found the lights were off and a note was tapped to the window. “Baker Class Canceled. Go to room 152.” She was crushed. She’d sat through two sessions patiently, knowing that she was going to get to talk to a professional baker.
“That’s some bullshit,” she said under her breath.
She made her way down to where the note had instructed. She was one of the last to enter and saw her brother sitting in the back of the room. He was the only boy in the room. There was an empty seat next to him.
“You’re so full of it!” he said as she sat down.
“What are you talking about?” She was sullen and standoffish.
Kyle motioned to the front of the room. “That ain’t not scientist. She works at Quick Cuts. You should have just said this was a hairdresser.” Strangely, he didn’t seem upset.
“Yeah, sorry. I just really wanted to go to the baking session.”
“How’d that go?”
“Didn’t! I’m here, aren’t I?”
He reached up and fluffed out his hair. “Well, I’m gonna get some stylin’ tips and see what she thinks about me gettin’ a perm!”