ROCKINGHAM – On Tuesday morning, high school freshmen in Richmond County were introduced to a variety of career opportunities from the point of view of local business professionals at the third annual Work Ready Day held at the Ninth Grade Academy.
“Work Ready Day is a partnership between the Richmond County Chamber of Commerce and Richmond County Schools,” said Richmond County Chamber of Commerce president Emily Tucker during an interview on The Classic ROCK’s Good Morning Sandhills show earlier that morning. “Ninth graders are allowed opportunities to explore career areas of their choice”
“At the Chamber of Commerce, we like to say that we connect people and business, but today we are very fortunate to connect our students with business. It gives kids more of a hands on experience to learn more about things in the community that they may not be aware of.”
The 31 guest speakers represented a wide range of careers and offered a more detailed look at characteristics like responsibilities, salaries, risks, and privileges associated with their respective professions. One message that resonated across all career areas was the importance of education.
Fallon Daniel, who works in human resources for Therafirm, explained to her groups how education can play a big role in finding work, improving job performance, and earning higher salaries. “Those of us in human resources study business in college,” explained Daniel. “There are many types of jobs someone can get with a business degree. Also, we don’t stop learning after we get our degrees. There is a lot of training that I still do at my job so that I can become better at my job.”
“Now I know one question you all have is how much money can I make? In many cases, the more education you have, the more money you can make.”
Even those with dreams of becoming a professional athlete were informed of the importance of education. “When college coaches come in, the first thing they ask me is if I have any players. The second thing they ask is to see their transcripts,” Richmond Senior High School Head Coach Bryan Till said to a group of students hoping to have a career in athletics. “If you want to separate yourself from other athletes, keep that G.P.A. up.”
Scott Altman of Griffin Nissan discussed the struggles of finding success without an education. “I’ve had someone say to me that I seem successful without an education and ask why they need an education to be successful,” Altman recounted. “Let me answer that question this way. Do you want to work 12 hours a day, six days a week? No? Then get an education.”
“If you want to be serious about being successful, it starts in school.”
The Work Ready Day event allowed each student to select four different career paths and they were given a 20 minute presentation from a professional in each of the chosen fields. This meant that students were not limited to one discipline, but could learn about a broad group of job opportunities.
Tucker expressed her appreciation to everyone involved for making the event happen. “It is critical that these kids begin to think about their future. I want to thank Seth (Allen) and Sharon (Johnson) for putting this together. Thank you to all of guest speakers. I know we are all busy and have a lot of work to do, so thank you for giving us some of your time.”
“The kids are excited and we are excited. It’s a great day.”
