Each year, students at Mineral Point High School have the opportunity to explore jobs and colleges and learn about life after high school through Career Day. Students get divided up by class and go around the school to learn about different careers and things they can do after or during high school. The different rotations in the 2022 MP Career Day were Careers You’ve Never Heard Of, Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, Alumni Panel, Local Career Panel, When You turn 18… How the Law Changes, and the Career Fair.

In one of this year’s rotations called Careers You’ve Never Heard Of, students learned about careers that may be of interest at Southwest Tech College in Fennimore. Students played a Kahoot game about many different career options and then talked about what they are and what someone does in that job.

A second rotation was the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership. It mainly focused on apprenticeships. According to Mr. Carey, an apprenticeship is when an employer will hire and start paying you from day one. You go to school one day and work four days, all while getting paid. The hourly wage is exceptionally well, plus the fringe benefits. These include health care and retirement; you get a journeyman after four to five years in the program. You are now certified in what you work for when you get this. An apprenticeship could be beneficial for people who do not want to attend college right after high school.

Another rotation was the Alumni Panel. This panel had former students from Mineral Point High School who have all gone through different experiences and found or are finding the job they love. The alumni were Jenna Wedig, Jacob Wedig, Levi Zimmerman, Rachel Schultz, Bo Hanson, Angie Reichling, Lauren James, Sy Staver, and Sydney Staver. Some of the alumni went to college and others did not. Others went to college with a career in mind and changed after the first semester. All of their experiences were inspiring, different, and interesting.

In addition to the Alumni Panel, there was also a Local Career Panel. Although the freshman and sophomores did not go to this, the juniors and seniors did. According to Tyler Nordstrom, the main concept was local people and businesses talking about their occupations. There were two people from Cummins, a John Deere employee, a health service employee, and many others. Students asked questions they were curious about and the employees answered the best they could.

Following the Local Career Panel, there was a When You Turn 18… How the Law Changes event. According to Tyler Nordstrom, in this, a cop talked about how once you turn eighteen, you are more responsible for your actions. The seniors were the only class that went to this rotation. They played a live Kahoot and the cop talked about some of their questions. One of the main topics the cop talked about was how you can get in more trouble for your actions as you are not a minor anymore.

Finally, at the Career Fair, there were different companies, colleges, businesses, and many more. They all set up booths and students walked around and asked questions. They learned more about different careers and colleges. The employees were very good at interacting with the students and helping them to know more about what they want to do in the future.

The Career Day was a great opportunity for students to learn about different colleges, businesses, companies, and what they want to go into after high school.