High schoolers glimpse future careers

  • Published
  • By Elysia Garcia
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  All across Department of Defense Dependent Schools Europe, high school students prepare for the future by gaining job experience through the Career Practicum program.

Career Practicum is a program provided for juniors and seniors in DoDDS high schools, which allows them to spend a class period or two working alongside military personnel around the base.

Career Practicum was created by Department of Defense Educational Activity, as stated on their Web site, to "provide school-to-career experiences and training through a work practicum related to a student's career goal." With this, DoDEA states that it hopes to provide students with the knowledge and skills to flourish in a professional work environment.

At Lakenheath High School, senior students get the opportunity to work at such places as the hospital, the fitness center, or the public affairs office.

"This program is useful for students," said Mr. Otis McCloskey, LHS Career Practicum coordinator. "It not only provides work experience, but also provides the knowledge and accreditation which is looked highly upon by colleges."

Though Career Practicum is a career-training class, it is also an enjoyable experience where students can delve into a field that interests them.

Amber Buckingham, LHS senior, works as an assistant in the base hospital's general surgery department, where she experiences all areas of surgery provided at the facilities, from orthopedics to OB/GYN.

"I work alongside the surgeons at the hospital and get to stand in the operating room during surgery to see how they interact with one another," said Amber. "With this experience, I get a view of different sections in the hospital, which allows me to judge the one I could see myself working in one day."

Along with gaining work experience and an idea of what careers interest students, DoDEA states they also hope that students will understand actual employment settings. In the work place, they hope students will develop and apply such skills as problem solving, communication techniques, and self management.

Though these skills are to be developed for the work place, they are skills which students can apply to their day-to-day lives as well.

Kyle James, LHS senior, applies the leadership skills he has developed through his work experience at the Lakenheath Chapel to his work with the local Christian youth group, Club Beyond.

"I love working with kids, and this program allows me to do this and also gain leadership skills," says Kyle James. "It gives me a good feel on how a regular job would be."