How to plan a school career day

The goal of career day is to introduce students to careers by bringing community members into the school to discuss their jobs. Career day may encompass the entire student body or just seniors. Here are some tips for planning yours.

1. Enlist a career day planning team to organize and carry out major tasks.

2. Determine how many students will attend. Career day is best assigned to half of a typical school day. Mornings are most convenient for guest speakers to be excused from work.

3. Develop a master schedule for the event.

4. Invite guest speakers at least three months in advance and provide a formal invitation explaining and highlighting the event. Try to keep careers interesting and represent a variety. Send, call or e-mail reminders to speakers two weeks prior to the event.

5. Recruit a group of student volunteers to guide and escort speakers as they enter and exit campus. Student volunteers should wear school logos to be easily recognized.

6. Advertise the event to the students as well as to the community. Offer incentives for students to attend. Use the newspaper’s free community announcement section.

7. Visit classrooms to present the event to students. Provide students with a menu of speakers and the schedule. Students must understand the concept of the day and choose presentations carefully.

8. Organize a welcome session as a prelude to the event. An administrator should greet speakers and provide a short thank-you speech. Light refreshments may be provided. Students will escort speakers to classrooms.

9. Assign teachers to classrooms to monitor student behavior, serve as a liaison for speakers and collect event evaluations from speakers and students.

10. Implement a training session for all staff so that all are available to assist and support the event.

Karen Wright is a school counselor at Citrus Hill High School in Perris, Calif.