World of Work

World of Work is a national program designed to share knowledge about the modern workplace with teenagers. It is built around four basic components of a career, including: Exploration, Simulation, Meet a Pro, and Practice.

This past Tuesday the sophomores at Belt High schools took off to a career fair that used the World of Work or WOW model. This was held by the University of Providence and MSU Great Falls. This event is held yearly for 8th and 10th graders to attend. These young Huskies got a glimpse into what jobs and careers were offered when they move past the walls of Old Belt High.

During the teenage years of life, students start to look at what they want to do past high school. There were many jobs for the students to look at, including ones that they thought they would continue a career in but may have changed their mind and thought of a different career. The day at WOW was divided into four zones.

The first zone contained jobs that involve welding, concrete work, logging, and many other outdoor heavy equipment jobs. There were lots of different blue collar jobs that kids were able to glimpse.

The second zone came under the banner of medical professional opportunities. It contained jobs in medical service, science studies, and emergency services. The Huskies that attended this were given the opportunity to learn how to perform CPR, save a person until emergency services get to the location, and many more things like intubating a person. This zone was of particular interest to many of the Belt kids, as a number are already considering a career in health and health related fields.

The third zone consisted of things like government and public safety jobs, the city of Great Falls representatives and parks and recreation, and forest service jobs. Other public safety jobs consisted of Cascade County Sheriff's Office, Great Falls Emergency Services, and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The fourth and final zone was in the private service sector of the economy, with jobs like hospitality and tourism, education, human services, and finance.

All in all it was a positive experience for the students. It opened their eyes to some fields they had not previously considered and also steered them away from some they not find all that fulfilling. Later this year Belt Schools will conduct Career Week to further help the students make big decisions.