Project ARIES Highlights Careers, Electives

Career+Technical+Education+teacher+Kapuni+Patcho+distributes+registration+stickers+for+his+Papa+La%E2%80%99au+course+at+Project+ARIES%E2%80%99+Curriculum+Fair.+Over+20+departments+and+programs+promoted+their+courses%2C+and+addressed+students+and+their+parents%E2%80%99+questions+at+the+evening+fair.+The+fair+is+part+of+a+two-week+schoolwide+event+that+also+features+a+Career+and+College+Fair+for+students

Career Technical Education teacher Kapuni Patcho distributes registration stickers for his Papa La’au course at Project ARIES’ Curriculum Fair. Over 20 departments and programs promoted their courses, and addressed students and their parents’ questions at the evening fair. The fair is part of a two-week schoolwide event that also features a Career and College Fair for students

Joshua Ala and Micheal Latimer, Reporters

Radford High School hosted a week-and-a-half long registration for their underclassmen with its Project Annual Registration Information Exploration Symposium, also known as Project ARIES, an acronym that also represents the astrological sign of the school’s mascot.

Project ARIES is a school-wide event where students learn about multiple careers and register for courses that prepare them for these potential careers.

While over a week is dedicated to Project ARIES,  there are two main events: Career and College Day, and Curriculum Fair. Outside of those events, students use the time to complete their registration forms, acquire approval and registration stickers for classes, and obtain a parental signature.

Project ARIES began as a way to help focus students on their futures. The focal point of Career Day is career awareness, while the Curriculum Fair concentrates on academic preparation. The registration process was designed to assist students who do not know what they are going to do after high school, or who are unsure of what occupations are out there.

Behind the scenes
Twenty percent of this year’s speakers were returnees, while 80 percent were new to the event.

Career Fair coordinator Luz Guerrero said, “I searched the web, perused through Midweek newspaper, [used] word-of-mouth, and MYAC, anywhere I could to get the word out.”

Career Day takes months of planning to organize enough speakers for the one-day event.

“I started calling and emailing potential career speakers during the summer. Some speakers require at least three months notice while others just need three weeks. The most difficult to secure are chefs, lawyers, and those in the medical field and law enforcement, due to the nature of their jobs,” she said. “However, we’ve been really blessed to have these careers represented at all of our Career Fairs.”

Career and College Day
Career and College Day allowed students to sit in on up to five sessions in the classrooms, and attend a college fair in the gymnasium.  This year, 67 career speakers and 25 college and military representatives were on hand to speak to students.

Jared Hayes (11) said that he enjoyed the session with the engineers who shared about what they do as civil engineers.

Hayes is interested in pursuing environmental engineering, so “it gave me an idea of what to expect and I’m excited about that.”      

One of Taias Savea’s (10) sessions was with the forensic consultant.

“I learned about examining dead bodies and looking at crime scenes,” Savea said.

Kilihia Lorenzo (10) said she had “exactly no idea what career I wanted to do, and because of Career Day, it gave me a better idea of what career I want to go into and what kind of college I want to attend.”

“After Career Day, I see myself graduating from a four year college and going into the medical field,” Destiny Acoba (10) said.

“I’ve talked to about four  colleges and also to the US Air Force, and out of all of them I believe the best college that I was talking to was UH,” Aldrich Pascual (10) said.

AJ Carter (9) said he liked hearing from the medical doctor. He learned that it took him over 10 years to earn his degree, but it’s worth it.”

He gets paid over $250,000 a year,” Carter said.

“My favorite guest speaker was Family Court Judge Bode Uale. He made me realize that without the grades you can’t do nothing in life, and if you do good in school and stuff then you’ll be successful and be whatever you want to be,” Viva Tauanuu (10) said.

Guerrero said that students who participated in Project ARIES week provided her with positive feedback. It provided them with the necessary information to help them narrow down their occupational choices and to help them with selecting their courses for next year, based on their current career interests.

Curriculum Fair
Over 20 departments and  programs participated in the evening Curriculum Fair in the school gymnasium. Faculty members representing core and elective departments and programs set up tables and displays. Counselors and teachers were on hand to address questions for students and their families.

To keep crowd size manageable and not overwhelm middle school students and their families, the event commenced an hour earlier for Aliamanu Intermediate and Holy Family Schools’ students, before opening it up to current underclassmen.

Project ARIES closed at the end of the week when registration cards were collected.    

This past ARIES made 23 years of helping Radford students make informed decisions regarding their future.

 

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