Hundreds of students and their families had a chance to learn about several different careers, colleges, and universities across California during “College/Career Making it Happen Night” at Tenaya Middle School in Merced on Wednesday.
The parking lot was filled with firefighters, law enforcement officers, and paramedics who brought their emergency vehicles, robots, and other equipment to give students a glimpse of their careers. In the gym, several other professionals were on hand to share information and answer questions, including attorneys, teachers, nurses, dentists, counselors, chiropractors, and military service members. Tenaya Teacher Derek Peterson commented, “Our community’s support for this event was truly inspiring and allows for our students to envision their own unlimited possibilities.” The event also featured representatives from a number of colleges and universities, including Merced College, CSU Fresno, CSU Stanislaus, CSU Sacramento, CSU Chico, San Diego State University, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Cal Poly.
The evening began with an inspiring keynote speech by El Capitan High School AVID teacher, Kim Conley. The event also included raffle prizes, and one lucky winner went home with the grand prize – a PlayStation 4. Meanwhile, members of the Associated Student Body sold refreshments to support future school events. When asked about the purpose behind planning this event, Tenaya Learning Director and AVID Coordinator Mystee Schindler stated, “It is never too early for students to start planning for their future. Our AVID Site Team works hard to host this event every year because we want to encourage our students and their families to start making those plans now. We are thankful to the community members and college representatives who took part in making this event a huge success.”
“College/Career Making it Happen Night” was organized by members of Tenaya’s AVID program, which is a college readiness system that teaches students the skills and behaviors for academic success. The site team includes the following individuals: Anthony Arista- Principal, David Bastian - Site Team/Science , Claudia Becerra - Site Team/Special Day Class, Diana DeWall - Site Team/Art/Yearbook, Linda Oldham - Site Team/Science/Leadership, Derek Peterson - 8th Grade Elective/English language arts/Social Studies, Mystee Schindler - Learning Director/ AVID Coordinator, DeeDee West - Site Team/Resource Specialist Program/California Junior Scholarship Federation, Elizabeth Whitmyre - 7th Elective/Math, and Ginger Wren - Site Team/English language arts.
“College/Career Making It Happen Night is a great way for students and parents to get information on colleges and careers. Even though the students are in middle school, it gives them a chance to start thinking about where they would like to go to college or the type of career in which they might be interested,” according to Ginger Wren. When asked why students should participate in programs such as AVID, Dave Bastian said, “I have run into several former students who are now in college, and each of them proudly declared that they were AVID students.”