More than 1,700 students at Jordan High School on Wednesday went to school clad as if they were headed to the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies. The reason? They were participating in Career Day, the premiere communitywide event of Canyons District high school’s new Career Academies program.
The aim of Jordan’s Career Day, which is done in coordination with Career and Technical Education, is to prepare students for college and careers. In the Career Academies program, students chose one of five academies: creative and performing arts; business and marketing; math and science; social studies and humanities; or technical careers. Then, students select a “major,” including biochemistry, exercise science and wellness, music, theater, hospitality and tourism, and university studies to prepare for the state’s rigorous Regents Scholarship.
“This event provides every student with unique opportunities to hear directly from people in the careers that interest them, hear what it’s really like to be in their shoes, learn about the job outlook, and what types of career and college preparations they need to start making right now,” said Jordan art teacher Jared Ward, event coordinator and Career Academies faculty chairman.
Students chose two, 30-minute guest-speaker sessions in a field of interest. Each session was videotaped and posted on the school’s Web site. On Thursday, students learned more about Jordan’s different academies and majors and were allowed to change majors if desired.
Career Day comes amid the school’s premiere Academy Career Week. The event, which helped students imagine the possibilities and start preparing now for college and careers, kicked off Monday with a speech from retired Utah Jazzman Mark Eaton.
