By: Whitney Hofer
School Counselor at Roosevelt Elementary
On Friday, September 27th, all 5th-grade students had the opportunity to explore various careers during a field trip to the Biesiot Activity Center for the 3rd annual DPS 5th Grade Career Fair. This event was organized by the elementary school counselors: Ross Ascheman, Amanda Fisher, Austin Harper, and Whitney Hofer, along with Jenny Kendrick, Toril Burckhard, and Behavioral Health Coordinator Rich Smith. The career fair was made possible by a generous grant from the Dickinson Public Schools Foundation, which covered the costs of facility rental, transportation, and breakfast for the presenters.
Thirty different careers were represented at the fair, encompassing all 16 career clusters. We are incredibly grateful to the presenters who volunteered their time to educate students about their professions.
The fair consisted of two sections: an indoor area featuring 16 different career presenter booths and an outdoor vehicle fair showcasing 14 career-related vehicles that attendees could explore while learning about their real-world applications.
In the indoor section, presenters included representatives from various organizations such as Deadwood Alive, Apex Engineering, Baker Boy, Consolidated, Bravera Bank, West Dakota Vet Clinic, Roughrider North Human Service Center, Sanford Air Med, artist Dustin Young, Dickinson Dinosaur Museum, ND National Guard, Rehab Visions, CHI St. Alexius Health, Wilbur Ellis, Western Edge Aviation, and ND Game & Fish.
The outdoor vehicle fair included displays from the Dickinson Police Department, Stark County Sheriff, Dickinson Ambulance, Jeff’s Towing, Sanford Air Med Helicopter, Dickinson Fire Department, Midcontinent Communications, Top Branch Tree Service, Butler Machinery, Dickinson Ready Mix, YES LLC Electrician, Western Edge Surveying, Sax Motors, and the City of Dickinson Recycling.
Fifth-grade student Gabriel Smith from Roosevelt kept an open mind while meeting with the career
presenters. Although he initially thought the Fire Department would be his favorite career, he was surprised to discover a new interest after visiting with the employees of the City of Dickinson Recycling. “They had this brick made out of recycled milk cartons that was so strong, I tried to break it with my hands but couldn’t, it was so cool”
Our goal for the career fair is to provide students with hands-on exploration activities that encourage them to consider their interests and abilities. This way, when they reach middle school and high school and start making choices about electives and which career academy to join, they will feel more informed and prepared. We believe this event serves as a valuable capstone to everything they have learned about careers in elementary school. We are extremely proud of our career fair and plan to make it an annual event open to all fifth graders in the district for many years to come.