UNION — An event held for elementary students last November continues to receive positive feedback.
The first Careers on Wheels Day was hosted on Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 at Union County Fairgrounds to give local second and fifth graders a look at careers which utilize various types of vehicles.
The idea for the Careers on Wheels event came from Lockhart School guidance counselor Jennifer Seeman. Seeman originally thought of the event as something for students at her school, but later decided to collaborate with career facilitator Wilbur Smith and turn the event into a district-wide experience.
A total of around 600 students visited the fairgrounds during Careers on Wheels Day, rotating through various stations and exploring vehicles.
“We are very appreciative of everyone who donated their time, being away from their career and day-to-day activities to be here,” Seeman said at the event.
Second-graders and fifth-graders enjoyed playing with sirens and loudspeakers on fire trucks, imagining being behind the wheel of a race car they could see up close, seeing maintenance and waste vehicles in action and asking questions of all kinds.
One of the stations at the event was hosted by the Union County Recreation Department (UCRD), and since the event, the department has received numerous letters from students and faculty from each school praising the department’s presentation, which was led by Robert Hill.
“Robert Hill did an excellent job in working with other departments to have various equipment hauled to the fairgrounds and — as stated by the letters from the elementary students — an overall good job in representing the UCRD at Careers on Wheels Day,” stated UCRD Director Becky Cobb.
In a letter addressed to Hill, Buffalo Elementary School guidance counselor Rick Wade said, “I appreciate your sacrifice of time. I know you gave our children a lot of firsthand experience that can’t be found on a Google search. Our kids really have talked about all the pieces of equipment you have to maintain in Union. I think they have new appreciation for your job.”
The following are excerpts taken from a few of the letters written to Hill by elementary school students:
- Dear Sir, We would like to thank you for teaching us how you roll the bucket filled with white paint. Thank you for keeping our football and softball field clean too. — Jerimaya Brannon
- It was really amazing to see everything you had. I really liked the one that works on the football field and the white stuff that you put on a softball field or on the baseball field. It was fun to see how you work it. Do you do this every day? Because this job would seem cool to do. I just want to say thank you so much to Mr. Hill. — Chelsey Eison
- Dear Sir, We would like to thank you for keeping our softball field and football field clean. Thank you for cutting the field and teaching us. — Miley Robinson
- Dear Mr. Hill and Mr. Littlejohn, I learned that it takes a lot of time to do the fields and I learned that you have to go over the football field two times, and you have a machine that you push and paint comes out the bottom. Also thank you for using your time to come tell us about how you do your job. — Haleigh Palmer
Hill said he was thankful to Smith and Seeman for the invitation to participate. Aside from teaching students some of the ins and outs of his job, he also had a message of inspiration.
“I would like to say to each of you that you can do whatever you want to in life if you apply yourself in your learning,” Hill said. “It’s good to see that the school system is still training students to be successful. I encourage each of you to study hard and do well in your classes. Whatever I can do to assist you in your studies and learning, please feel free to call on me.”
Besides working with Union County Recreation Department, Hill is also involved with the non-profit organization Urban Achievements for Youth Education.
Seeman said she and Smith look forward to planning this year’s Careers on Wheels, making it an annual event.
Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@civitasmedia.com.
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