QUILCENE — A job fair planned today for public school students will provide fodder for one of childhood’s nagging questions: What will I be when I grow up?
The job fair for students from kindergarten through 12th grade and their parents will be in conjunction with a display of the best work of elementary school students as well as a free community chicken dinner.
All are invited, said Bill Breakey, a learning specialist in the Quilcene School District.
The job fair, called Show Us Your Work, will be from 5:30 to 7:30 this evening in the gym and multipurpose room at the Quilcene School District, 294715 U.S. Highway 101.
Also showing their work will be elementary school students.
In the elementary school next door, classrooms will display students’ best work, whether it be art, mathematics, writing or some other work.
“We left it open-ended,” Breakey said.
“The teachers worked with the kids to make sure that in the classroom are samples of their best work.”
The free chicken dinner, which is open to the public, will be from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
No RSVP is needed — “but get here early; when it’s gone, it’s gone,” Breakey said, adding that enough was purchased to feed 300 people.
“We have such a supportive community,” he said.
“We feel blessed to be in this community.”
The inaugural job fair was prompted by a trip to a technical exposition in Kent along with Austin Davis and Derik Davis, brothers who work at the school as reading teachers, Breakey said.
Breakey said he would like for the event to occur on an annual basis.
“We are hopeful that we can engage the kids in a dialogue as to what the future holds for them and connect what they are doing in class with a possible career,” Breakey said.
“It is designed to give kids an up-close and personal look at what it takes to do certain kinds of work.”
More than 20
More than 20 representatives of colleges, trades and government agencies are scheduled to participate.
Included will be the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, Jefferson County Library, Quilcene Fire Department, Peninsula College, West Sound Technical Skill Center, Key City Public Theatre and YMCA.
“We are asking the kids to go in and chat with each of the trades and ask what it takes to work in their field and what the requirements are,” Breakey said.
“They are going to hear about what degrees, certificates, math skills and technical skills [are needed] and hear these answers from someone beside their teachers.”
Students will carry “passports,” and those who receive sufficient stamps from presenters will get ice-cream cones, Breakey said.
“We really want them to continue the dream of what they are going to be when they grow up,” he said.
“We don’t think we can start that conversation too young.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
