Carson Middle Schoolers look to their futures

Tessa Richards, 11, looked into her future Tuesday and saw a physical therapist.

The vision came after the Carson Middle School sixth-grader spent a half hour with a physical therapist who "put wet stuff on our arms and hooked these things up that make your arms tingle to work your muscles."

"It was really cool," Tessa said.

Of course, after monitoring her great-grandmother's care by a physical therapist, she was already thinking of taking that career path. Still, she spent Tuesday morning with a lawyer, a PGA golf pro and a journalist just to be sure.

Around 1,200 Carson Middle School students participated Tuesday in the school's eighth annual Career Day. From musicians and lawyers to a chef and a coroner, 51 community professionals had just over two hours, split into four 35-minute blocks, to tell the kids about their careers.

"I like career day," said Jon Josten, 14. "I don't want to go through college and get into it and not like something. I want to see what's out there."

"Children are different today. They're a lot more decisive about what they want than they used to be," said Bette Nyswonger, the chef at the Governor's Mansion. "You've got to get them started in the right direction."

Mostly girls attended Nysownger's discussion on the culinary arts. And many inquired about the governor's favorite meal.

"Meatloaf," she said.

Josh Halen, 13, was enthused with the U.S. Army recruiter, who gave him a "parachute guy" and made him answer questions like the name of the president's wife. If he trains really hard, he could be in the special forces, the seventh-grader added.

Yolanda Obregon, 13, said she was impressed by the Army National Guard presentations on how they respond to disasters.

"I think career day is a good opportunity to see what kind of choices there are so you'll know what you want to study in college," she said.

While Anne-Marie White has dreams of being on Broadway, she was intrigued by an interior design presentation.

"It shows what it's going to be like when you grow up, what the choices are and what it's like out there," she said.

Tracy Benson, a range land management specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, taught children not only about the state tree and flower, she taught them to identify three different types of noxious weeds.

"They couldn't wait to go out and pull it," she said. "I had one girl go through the class twice."

Benson said it is good to catch children early so they can start thinking about what electives to take in high school and eventually what career to pursue in college.

One student asked Don Johnson, business development representative for Great Basin Credit Union, if every member of the credit union died, would the sole survivor get the money. Johnson laughed at the question, but said for the most part, the middle schoolers seemed interested in learning about real-world careers.

"I've seen first hand that it's crucial for them to have some real-life direction," Johnson said. "They're getting some pointers and knowledge of what other jobs are and what it takes to get those jobs."