DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / February 26, 2000

ST. JAMES – Principal John Brass held up his hand, the crowd fell to silenceand the day began. Career Day 2000 at St. James Junior High lasted allafternoon and encompassed more than 35 occupations, presented by workers from local parishes to St. James seventh- and eighth-graders.Dr. Harry Albert, department chairperson of Behavior Studies at SouthernUniversity and a former St. James teacher, gave the keynote speech for theevent. Under the theme of the day, “Soaring into the New Millennium,” Albertsaid, “You are the children of the future. You are the future. If you don’tprepare we won’t have a future.”He said one could only be the best if one wanted to be.

“You are responsible for yourself,” he told the students. He asked them totake pride in their school, their home and their community then handed them over to the presenters.

Participating workers shared their jobs with the students for three hours.

Students progressed from room to room learning about their favorite jobs in 20-minute sessions. From beautician to banker, teacher to travel agent,choreographer to chemical engineer, students caught a glimpse of the opportunities the working world had to offer.

At the end of the afternoon presenters gathered for lunch, talked over what they had learned during the day and gave suggestions of how to make the program better. The presenters, some who have participated in similarprograms in other parishes, suggested ways of making the program more efficient and orderly. One individual wished simply that he could have hadmore time with the students.

Jacquelyn Brass, instructional supervisor and organizer of the event, encouraged the presenters to come back and spend more time with the students. She invited them to call the local schools and arrange to talk to aclass in order to go into more depth and detail concerning their work.

The students seemed to enjoy their time, investigating what jobs may interest them. The traveled the halls, hands full of stickers and memorabiliaof what they had seen during the day.

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