Career Days: They’re Not Just for High School Students

One of the most rewarding (and fun) things I have ever done for my kids’ school was to organize Career Day. This was an exciting event that I put together for their elementary school two years in a row. I know, it seems a bit early to start introducing kids to different careers but I have to say from experience that kids at the elementary school level look forward to Career Day with stunning excitement. If you’ve ever thought about planning a career day for your local school here are a few tips and suggestions to help you on your way.

Before you start thinking about what careers you want represented you need to check with the school about the date for the event. Yes, I know, duh, but that is always the first step. However, while you are talking to the school there are a few more things that you will need to know. Number one is, how many classes in each grade level are at the school. Then you need to know how any students are in each class. I will explain the reason for this in a bit. You will also need to find out what time the students go to recess and lunch, what time school starts, and what time it ends. Believe me, all this information will be needed and getting it ahead of time will save you lots of phone calls and visits to the office.

Now that you have your information it is time to figure out the schedule for the speakers. A lot of schools are large and when they have career days they usually put a huge group of kids in one room to listen to one speaker. While this does work, I have spoken to professionals who speak at schools a lot and they feel that a large number of the students miss out on the interesting stuff because there are too many kids in the room. The school that I organized for was small, 250 students K- 8. This made it easier to work out my schedule. This looks confusing I know and it is a bit when planning it out but once you get the hang of it it is really pretty simple. Take a look at this sample schedule.

Lower grades: The grade level of each class is indicated after the teacher’s name.

8:30- 8:55 9:00-9:25 9:30-9:55