A Moment to Give Back: Career Fair @ MS61
There's always so much love when I come to Dr. Gladstone H. Atwell MS 61. Its nice to know I have a place in my community where I know I'll be welcomed with a warm hug and bright smile after the many years its been since I've walked those halls. I laugh at myself because even 10 years later, I still cant manage to make it to 61 for 8am! I guess some things don't change. It was a pleasure to support MS 61's Career Day for a second time. This time last year, a handful of 61 alumni supported our neighborhood school by talking with a few classes about our careers. I managed to keep in touch with a few guidance counselors (Hi, Ms.Aris, & Ms. Fowler) and I'm happy we were able to come together again.
61 faculty had the great idea to host a Career Fair, reducing the lecture vibe and allowing more students to be involved. It was a bit nerve wrecking to wait for the students to approach each individual table. You know kids can say (and do) the darnedest things! Thankfully, there were plenty of interested students - so much so that you could barely see who was sitting at the table! The students had a variety of administrative, creative, entrepreneurial, education, medicine, law enforcement, fitness, and media entertainment professionals available to them at their Career Fair.
Being 12 years old in 2017 is a challenge but all of those students we spent time with have huge futures waiting for them. I spoke to kids who had interests in engineering, law, nursing, dance, video/photography and coding. Im happy MS 61 continues to inspire our community's future somebodies (but then again, I'm not surprised!).
Students had a variety of administrative, creative, entrepreneurial, education, medicine, law enforcement, fitness, and media entertainment professionals available to them at their Career Fair. Most kids had an idea of who they might want to be one day, and others who were unsure about their collegiate futures spoke with student advisers from William E. Grady High School about their options in trade schools. MS 61's Career Fair brought forth topics such as police brutality, fitness/self-care, and mental health amongst the students and their guests. It was also great to see a few familiar faces talking to the kids. 61 alumi Alex Cheron and Sasha Weise shared what its like to serve as a Guidance Counselor and Identification Specialist. Entrepreneur Denequa Williams, owner of luxury candle brand LitBklyn, spoke to students about owning their own businesses and the value behind hard work.
A successful life isn't always about your pay earnings, sometimes its about how you pay it forward. Camp Ryan is an organization creating a platform for social change driven by positive action. Their Director of Communications Ryan Davis, connected with students on the importance of giving back and the unique ways they can do so in their communities.
Every visit to 61 is a walk down memory lane to who I was as a kid. It's an identity shock to travel through the stairs, thinking "Have these steps always been this small? Or did I get that big?" Most importantly, I think about the current students. MS 61 made so many opportunities available to me and I want their current students to take advantage of that. I see their potential, they can (and will) do great things. A huge thanks to all of our guests who gave their time to those students, and a warm special thanks to MS 61 for creating a space for their students to be exposed to what amazing opportunities lay ahead for them. We made an effort to connect with as many students as possible, I think we accomplished that. Until next year!