Career Day at Roberto Clemente

When Lisa Murdock talked to seventh grade students at Roberto Clemente Middle School about her career and educational background as a scientist, she said she noticed most students did not know what skill sets were required for a successful career.

Using her positions as the NAACP parent council representative, Parents Teachers Students Association (PTSA) Coordinator and a parent at the school, she canvassed the neighborhood looking for professionals willing to talk to students about what they did to get into their careers. She wanted the career fair to be more interactive and for the students to make connections.

"At this age you remember more from things you interacted with versus a big lecture someone gave to you and your friends sitting in a classroom," she said. 

Standing behind a table with science projects, Murdock explains to a group of students how different science concepts play into every day life, like churning butter or breaking the surface tension of oil to clean greasy hands.

Using crushed and whole seltzer tablets, she demonstrates how different sized particles dissolve at different rates, handy information, she explained, when students need to decide what form of medicine takes the shortest time to relief a headache.

Three tables down, students use a microscope to study the brain of a rat and in a freezer bag on the next table and in a different section of the room, a nurse uses a face mask to demonstrate how to staple open wounds.

Susie Ikpemgbe-Kaigler is one of the five counselors working at the school. She helped organize the seventh grade career day when Murdock first talked to the seventh grade students. She said she was "not as familiar" with Murdock's career fair adding that her role is to make the classroom come to life in every day decisions. She said exposing students more to the to the real world is important in the face changing labor markets and globalization.

"We are now seeing that even an undergrad is not even enough to be able to find a job," she said, "and even the way the economy is right now, even people with degrees are unemployed. Jobs are not as available as they used to be."

Principal Khadija Barkley said both events provided great exposure for the students and were geared towards different audiences. The seventh grade career day was not open to any other students and the career fair was open to all students with after school activities.

Barkley said if there were more events like career fairs and career days every month the students would continue to benefit.

"Our students benefit greatly from individuals in the community who come to share information about themselves and how education positively impacts success," she said.