Teacher seeks video submissions from various career professionals

As eighth-graders, many students have not given their options for a career much serious thought. To expose them to some of those potential career options, Russellville Middle School teacher Melissa Godsey is working to gather videos from people in various careers. 

“A lot of kids at this age aren’t exposed to careers other than what they see on a daily basis,” Godsey said. “I think they really have no idea what all is out there.” 

Godsey said she will be sharing video submissions with her eighth-grade career prep class for Career Tech Education month during the week of Feb. 22-26. 

“This will give them a chance to be exposed to different career options before choosing electives for high school and will help them be a lot more prepared,” Godsey explained. 

Godsey said this could not come at a better time because the week after her students view videos of different careers, they will fill out their four-year education plans for high school. 

Godsey said she is looking for video submissions from a wide variety of careers to expose students to opportunities in each career cluster: agriculture, food and natural resources, architecture and construction, arts, A/V technology and communications, business management and administration, education and training, finance, government and public administration, health science, hospitality and tourism, human services, information technology, law, public safety, corrections and security, manufacturing, marketing, science, technology, engineering and mathematics and transportation, distribution and logistics. 

“There is no career that is too big or too small,” Godsey said. “We want students to be able to see a range of careers.” 

Career Tech Director Natalie Bendall said it is important for students to be educated on all careers so they can make the best decisions for themselves. 

“I think when we expose students to all the different opportunities, they have a bigger picture of what they can do with their lives,” Bendall said. 

Anyone interested in participating can email Godsey at melissa.godsey@rcs.k12.al.us or on Facebook for a list of questions to answer in a video. 

Godsey said the video can be simple and does not need to be long or professional video quality. 

The video will need to tell about a job and the education required and answer general questions students might have.

Godsey said she is accepting video submissions from people in all careers through Feb. 19.