Career Day connects Dool students to opportunities
CALEXICO — Students at Dool Elementary School were able to get a first-hand glimpse of different career opportunities available to them during the school’s Career Day on Thursday.
More than 40 presenters volunteered to show students what their careers are about and how they got to their current positions.
Presenters aimed to possibly spark an interest in students that might eventually lead them on a particular career path.
Presenters set up in classrooms throughout the school’s campus. The school’s 628 students, from transitional kindergarten to sixth grade, had the chance to hear a minimum of three presenters speak.
Showing students all the opportunities that are available to them is something that should be done as soon as possible, student counselor Samuel Gutierrez explained.
“When the students realize from the very beginning, ‘This is what I want to do,’ now they develop a pathway to success,” Gutierrez said. “Now they have an idea of, ‘OK, well this is what to do, and this is what I’m going to do about it.’ Now when they come to school, they no longer come to school because they have to. They come to school because there’s a reason behind it.”
It was the consecutive fourth year Dool has had a Career Day. The event continues to grow each year in terms of participation, Gutierrez observed.
Educators, law enforcement, judges, attorneys, business owners, political representatives and even a representative from the Mexican Consulate were among the presenters.
Drawing the most attention were the first responders.
Calexico Fire Department, Customs and Border Protection, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office and El Centro Police Department had their vehicles parked outside, which produced considerable engagement among the kids.
Gutierrez said he also hoped Thursday’s event showed that the careers of tomorrow will be different from those of today.
“Our students, our community needs to understand that the jobs of the future are not jobs that we had in the 1950s, in the 1970s, in the 1980s,” the counselor said. “The jobs of the future are depending on the needs of the future.
We have the resources in our community, and outside of our community, that can come and connect those opportunities with our students.”
Judge Poli Flores Jr. echoed this sentiment in his presentation to a sixth grade class.
“When you’re 20 or 30 years old after college, there’s going to be a big demand for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), especially for young women,” Flores told the class.The Imperial County Superior Court judge explained his life journey — earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
He now, on an average week, handles 80 cases, ranging from murder, stabbings and, most commonly, drugs.
“The reason why is, we have a lot of access to drugs across the border,” he told the students.
Judge Flores also explained to the students the difference between a jury trial and a guilty plea.
After talking about his career, he told students that if they have a strong background in a STEM subject, then they’ll have no problem getting a good job in the future.
But, in order to have a strong background, they need to develop a strong foundation now, Flores said.“Don’t wait until you’re in high school to think about college,” he said. “Right now, you’re building that foundation.”
Flores went around the room and asked students what subject they’re struggling with most. Most answered math.“You weren’t just born and you fell out of bed and you knew three plus three,” Flores told the students. “They taught you that. So you learn your math skills. If there’s something you don’t understand, you ask — you work at it.”
After his presentation,
Flores was swarmed by students wanting an autograph.Meanwhile, Officer Brenda Quezada found herself in a first grade class that needed some help figuring out who she was.
needed some formal introduction in order for the students in the first grade class she was presenting to, to know who she was.
The first graders speculated as to which department’s uniform Quezada was wearing. There were guesses for Brawley, Calexico, El Centro and even the entire U.S.A. “I actually work for Los Angeles Police Department,” the officer told the students.
“That’s what I was going to say,” a student in the back objected.
A native of Calexico, Quezada grew up in the city, completed all her schooling here and graduated from Calexico High School in 1996.
Upon graduation, she joined the Marine Corps, and after a number of years as a Marine, she completed the six-monthlong LAPD academy.
She’s been an officer with the department for about 11 years now.
“Sometimes, believe it or not, the police are not always there to arrest people,” Quezada said. “We’re out there to help you.”
She asked the first graders if they could identify the equipment on her belt, which the class identified as: A gun, a radio, hand cuffs, a can of “something that you put in the eyes of a person” and an “electricity gun.”“It’s a Taser, but that’s a good guess,” the LAPD officer told students.
Quezada highlighted the importance of having an education to the young students.“No matter what we choose to do, you have to learn how to read and do some math,” she said. “It’s very important that you guys stay in school and learn because, no matter what you do, you’re going to need your education.”