I Get to Work at the State Fair !!

Every year I take a week’s vacation from my job as School-to-Career Coordinator to go work at the NC State Fair. I run the Agriculture Education exhibit where a dozen agencies and businesses related to agriculture and the environment show off their stuff to the fairgoers.

I have several high school and college interns working with me each year learning what it takes to plan and run a big production.

So where have you worked lately? Educators know their education, but how many educators escape from the halls of academia to venture out into the business world to see where we are sending all of our students.

It’s important that our students get work-place experiences to learn how school and work are different (we need a later discussion on this as well). But how many of us have experienced life outside the classroom so we can truly speak intelligently about the careers our students may one day hold.

I challenge each of you to find a job, even if it’s only a week out of your summer, to get some first hand experience. Better yet, get a job right along side one of your student interns so you can experience both the work as well as evaluate your internship program from the inside.

The world of work is changing rapidly, and we are preparing our kids for jobs that may not yet exist. How can we do our job if we don’t really know where we are sending them.

Well, at least the way that I see it. Let me know what you are thinking, and stop by again soon for more of my ramblings.