The Newtown Middle School (NMS) Counseling Department hosted its annual Career Day on Friday, December 5.

A long-standing tradition at NMS since 2002, Career Day lets eighth grade students learn about different occupations directly from people in those fields.

A total of 16 community volunteers participated this year, including a firefighter; a sound engineer; an emergency room (ER) doctor; an electrician; an author; a basketball coach; a 911 dispatcher; an Amazon advertiser; a boxing engineer; a graphic designer; a performer; a veterinarian; a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technician; a physical therapist; a helicopter engineer; and a woodworker.

Two of these volunteers came from Henry Abbott Technical High School in Danbury, but the rest were parents of current NMS eighth graders.

Volunteers were assigned to different rooms across the building, where they each gave a short presentation on their career, answered questions, and offered advice and encouragement based on their real-world experience.

Students signed up for presentations in advance and picked the top five occupations they wanted to learn about. These presentations were split across three half-hour sessions at the end of the school day, with students getting to learn about three different professions.

NMS Principal Jim Ross called Career Day “one of the cumulating events of the year.”

NMS counselor Tina Broccolo said Career Day ties into the lessons that the counselors give to eighth grade students.

“We try to help them figure out what their strengths and interests are,” Broccolo explained. “And from those strengths and interests, they will eventually work their way into careers that match who they are as people.”

To that end, volunteers were asked to talk about their strengths and interests growing up and how they led them into their current career.

“We also asked them to talk about any other careers they had before that, because careers often change over time,” Broccolo said.

She added that they tie what students learn from Career Day into the high school transition process. The counseling department will have students look into what their interests are and use those to shape what their electives are as freshmen in Newtown High School.

The goal of Career Day, Broccolo said, is to get students thinking about what they might want to do in the future.

She explained that every student got to see their number one choice. For the other two presentations, Broccolo said they looked at their five options to give students something they would like to see. Not only do students get exposed to a job they are especially interested in, but they also get to learn about other jobs as well.

NMS counselor Tanya Hague-Doehr, who helped run the event along with Broccolo, said she was really excited for Career Day. While the event took a lot of advanced planning, Hague-Doehr was happy to help eighth grade students find a career that they like.

“We’ve been doing lessons leading up to [Career Day], so the goal is that it all starts to click for them,” Hague-Doehr said.

Broccolo also said the school’s counseling department is incredibly grateful to all of the participating parents.

“They had to take time off of work. They created presentations. Many of them brought in visuals ... Everyone put a lot of time and effort into this, so we’re just really, really thankful to our parents for doing this, and to our teachers for supporting them as well,” Broccolo said.

Another Career Day tradition is treating the volunteers, along with their eighth grade students, to a special lunch purchased by the school.

Volunteers and their children came early and had lunch in the school’s main lobby area. They helped themselves to wraps, potato chips, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and bottled water as they talked with other presenters and their children.

“They took time off work. They worked so hard on their presentations. The least we can do is treat them to a nice lunch,” Broccolo said.

Volunteers were also given little goodie bags filled with bottled water, chocolates, and mints, along with time cards for their presentations that day.

Presentations

From there, Career Day was in full swing. Each volunteer went to their designated classroom and happily welcomed their visiting students.

911 dispatcher/certified training officer Jake Catanese talked about his experiences as a first responder. He noted the relevant skill sets and qualifications for the job, such as professionalism, multitasking, typing/computer skills, and the ability to adapt to stressful, unpredictable situations.

He said no one calls 911 because “they’re having a good day,” and that 911 dispatchers are the lifeline not only to the people who are responding to the emergency, but the people involved in the emergency.

Western Connecticut State University basketball coach Guy Rancourt talked about his journey becoming a college basketball coach. Rancourt played basketball in high school and said the best thing his coach ever did for him was “break his heart,” telling him that he was not good enough to play in a low Division 1 school.

While his coach’s words hurt, Rancourt’s pivot into coaching came naturally for him, and he said it was “the greatest decision he ever made.” Rancourt is now in his 28th year teaching basketball at the college level, and has worked with numerous players through practice, games, and individual workouts to help them be the best basketball player they can be.

Physical therapist Shaunna Heibeck taught students how people in her profession help people with injuries or chronic health conditions manage their pain and improve their quality of life.

She brought with her several items patients use in physical therapy sessions, such as exercise balls. One of these items was a dynamometer, a tool used to measure hand and grip strength. Students took turns grabbing the dynamometer to test just how strong their grip strength was.

Sound engineer Rob Vozza, who has worked for NBC Sports and the WWE, brought a version of his setup to the school. Students got to learn about how sound engineers use technology to capture, mix, and perfect sound for music, movies, and games they enjoy everyday, while getting to see a live demonstration on how Vozza uses his mixing consoles.

These were only some of the many presentations that day. Regardless of which one students went to, each volunteer was happy to be there and teach them about what they do for a living.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.