The Pre-Career and Technical Education Department at the Arthur A. Richards Junior High School held a Pre-Career Development Student Showcase on Friday, May 25, in the school’s library. Agriculture Science, Business Education, Technology Education, and Family and Consumer Science classes displayed projects and presented on the careers associated with each vocation.

Organized by Richards’ Assessment and Intervention Instructor Wendy Ann Parris, the purpose of the showcase was to provide insight into different career opportunities in each vocational field as well as display the work students have been doing in each class.

Guest speakers were present for the morning session where select classes sat in and listened. Topics discussed were “The Importance of Vocational Education,” by Senator Javan James; “The Importance of Agriculture,” by Dr. Lawrence Lewis and “Finance: Begin Saving at a Young Age,” by Ellen Fontenelle of Scotia Bank. Parris along with Family and Consumer Science, Agriculture and Computer Science instructors Annette Gordon, William Peter, Moziah Miller and Etta Mitchell also made presentations.

During the lunch break, the showcase opened for visitors and students to view displays and demonstrations from the presenters. Students from the Alexander Henderson and Claude O. Markoe elementary schools were some of the guests present. Each vocational field had at least one display board with different career opportunities in that field. The agriculture class display included actual plants such as cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, and moringa grown by students and were sold for $1. Annette Gordon provided sewing demonstrations and free sewing repairs.

Following the open house, select students had the opportunity to attend a Girls Who Code Workshop with Aimee Sanchez of the University of the Virgin Islands.

Wendy Parris, who spearheads pre-career development at the school, expressed her satisfaction with the event. “I’m pleased with how it turned out. Our teachers and students worked very hard,” she said. “We want students to start thinking about vocational careers. The vocational classes are important and ties into real-world situations. After the hurricanes, you realize how necessary these vocational classes are; vocational education is a great way to go.”