Schools
Talking Shop at Ledyard High School [With Video]
Career Day brings students together with local professionals for a first-hand report.
For 1985 Ledyard High School graduate Marjorie Lineweber, presenting to LHS students on Career Day is like a trip down Memory Lane.
“It’s fun to come back to my old alma mater,” said Lineweber, who runs a dog day care in Mystic called “My Dog’s Place.” She was among 50 local professionals who spoke to groups of students Thursday.
Lineweber said she has been told by former students that her time is well worth the effort.
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“This is my seventh year doing this,” she said. “I have been told by other LHS alumni that having a chance to talk to people who actually work in a given field made all the difference after graduation.”
Lineweber, who personally explored several occupations after school before discovering her calling, says she can relate. “Sometimes it just takes a while to find your niche.”
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Local professionals, many of whom were LHS parents, each spoke to three separate groups of students, describing such things as their work day, what are the career prerequisites and what they like or don’t like about their jobs.
The Q&A portion of the presentation was wide open. In a presentation on online journalism, the discussions ranged from the cost of newsprint and saving trees to the credibility of user generated content to Kim Kardashian’s divorce.
There were candid conversations about salary levels, along with sage advice on the importance of loving one’s work.
LHS Guidance Director David Doyle said students select speakers from a field or fields that interest them. “They can chose their area of interest,” he said.
“There was a lot of engagement this year,” said career counselor Carol Schenck, who helped organize the event.
Brandon Hyde, vice president of Hyde Park Landscape, said he received a call early Thursday morning inviting him to present. Hyde said he had missed an earlier call from the guidance department.
Already at work in Norwich, Hyde turned his truck around and headed for the high school. “It was great,” he said of the chance to talk to kids about his career field. He said he hopes to do it again next year.
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