On Monday, February 25th, 2019, Fair Grove Elementary hosted Careers On Wheels. This event took place in the lower elementary gym, as well as the parking lot, and lasted from 8:30 in the morning to 11:00 o’clock in the morning. Careers On Wheels is a day that is intended to teach children about career awareness; the preschoolers, the kindergarteners, the first-graders, and the second-graders had the opportunity to learn about various jobs and engage in activities with career personnel from different spectrums of the career world.

Fair Grove implemented a day for Careers On Wheels into their schedule for various reasons. First and foremost, it allowed the younger students to be exposed to a wide range of jobs, including some that are actually a part of Fair Grove’s community. Additionally, Jason Buschman, the elementary’s counselor, stated, “I believe having kids experience careers helps them know about themselves and what they might like to do in the future.”

In order to make this day possible for all of the young students, permission from the administration was required, and Jason Buschman had to call numerous businesses. By calling the businesses, he confirmed their presence for the day of the event, permitting the students to actually have the event.

On that Monday, the elementary welcomed the local firefighters and police officers, as well as scuba divers from Diventures in Springfield to participate in the event. Jason Buschman stated, “I wanted the kids to know about our community helpers, but I also wanted them to experience a new career, such as scuba diving!”

After the three-hundred kids had completed their rotations with all of their vendors, they were given the opportunity to climb into the firetrucks and the police cars out in the parking lot. Furthermore, they saw the firefighter’s turnout gear, along with the scuba diver’s scuba gear.

The third and fourth graders have a similar event scheduled on February 28th and March 1st. On these days, the two grade levels will get to experience the six different careers from six different career paths.