'Are you motivated?'

WASILLA — Students in eighth grade at Wasilla Middle School heard presentations by members of the Wasilla Sunrise Rotary Club who detailed their specific line of work. The career talks have been sponsored by the rotary for more than two decades.

“Kids who have a path way and have an end goal are more likely to graduate from high school,” said WMS school counselor Misty Taylor.

In science teacher Misty McNellis’ classroom, students got to hear about careers in law and order as former prosecuting attorney with the District Attorney’s office Rachel Gernat was joined by Alaska State Troopers B Detachment Captain Tony April and Lieutenant Freddie Wells. April effervescently introduced himself and immediately asked every student sitting in the class “are you motivated?”

As a trooper for over 20 years, April said that one of the pillars that AST is built on is trust and legitimacy, and the troopers could gain that trust and legitimacy by entering the schools and having conversations with students.

“Part of my job is to come here and build trust and legitimacy, trust and legitimacy. So once you understand that, you understand that you have trust and there’s a relationship between law enforcement and the people that we serve. I believe in service above self. We all believe in service above self and this is why we are here,” said April.

April was part of a total of 10 Rotarians who took time out of their Friday afternoon to present to soon-to-be high schoolers. Students have already taken career path tests and identified their top potential job interests before selecting classes they will take in high school. Many of the Rotarians who spoke on Friday will return later in the semester to conduct mock job interviews where students will also be tested for their preparedness.

“You all have potential to do special things,” said Wells. “You guys are our future. Without you there wouldn’t be a future right? So you guys are so important to me.”

Wells began in similar fashion as April, instructing each student to turn to their classmates and tell them that they have potential. Wells has also been a trooper for over 20 years and served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army where he learned skills like teamwork. Wells was inspired to become a law enforcement officer after his mother was paralyzed in a crash with an impaired driver when Wells was just 16 years old.

Following Wells, Gernat explained prosecuting attorney’s role in public safety alongside law enforcement. Gernat’s inspiration for her career came at a young age where an early tendency to argue developed into a love of law and motivated her to argue for what was right.

“I thought how am I going to take this passion of law and this passion of helping people and put it together,” said Gernat.

Gernat said that it was not until she worked for a judge that she knew she wanted to become a prosecuting attorney and later in her career worked to prosecute criminals charged with domestic violence and sex crimes.

Students in different classrooms were given the opportunity to hear from professionals from a wide range of careers. Former obstetrician Pam Hill discussed the medical field to a group of students in Tina Wake’s social studies classroom. Hill recalled that at an early age she was enamored with mystery books, loved school and thought the chance to dissect a frog in class was cool. Hill’s decision for her ultimate career path came from an accident when her brother injured his finger. Hill told students about how their family rushed her brother to the Emergency Room and as her father waited in the lobby, Hill’s eyes were glued to the doctor’s procedure on her injured brother.

“I was looking so much at what the guy was doing with my brother’s finger because he was sewing up the tendons again and he was making my brothers finger look like it had before he got injured and I just thought that was totally cool.”

Hill stressed to the students that they should find a profession where they can enjoy their jobs and have fun. Rotarians giving career talks represented insurance agencies, engineering companies, accountants, law enforcement and others.

“It’s just kind of an introduction, like these are seven different career options and obviously with engineering that Matt Ketchum’s doing, there’s tons of opportunities for engineering so it just kind of gives them the opportunity to find out what is really out there,” said WMS School Counselor Tyann Nelson.

In math teacher Jason McCourt’s classroom, Ketchum spoke to a group of students about possibilities in the engineering and construction industry. Ketchum went to college for a bachelor’s degree in construction management and drove up to Alaska in a pickup truck where he was able to continue his career path he had in Oklahoma at a different job in Alaska. Ketchum spent over two decades working for Granite Construction before he decided to start his own business that he now co-owns, KH Civil Constructors. Ketchum told students that it may be easier to start eliminating what jobs they’ve identified no interest in rather than trying to pick just one job that they like.

“The more you know, the more someone is willing to pay you for your knowledge, regardless of what that might be,” said Ketchum. “I went to college and got a four year degree, you don’t necessarily have to take that path to do what I’m doing now and there’s lots and lots of people in my trade in construction that did not go to a four-year college.”

Ketchum discussed how he took some of his hobbies in childhood and made a decision based on what he liked to do. A woodworking class called industrial arts inspired Ketchum and helped him pick a career. Ketchum compared how his hobby of collecting baseball cards developed habits that help his career daily.

“Data collection is something that I do today all of the time. I’m collecting data all the time on certain stuff that I do with work, and many jobs particularly scientists, they’re collecting data as well so your hobbies today can translate into a career,” said Ketchum.

As eighth graders at WMS are about to begin their path through high school and decide whether they want to further their education or enter into the workforce, Rotarians attempted to provide a spark and inspire productive citizens for the future.

“I still today love to learn new things so learning doesn’t stop when you get out of school. Learning continues on for the rest of your life,” said Ketchum. “Hopefully you will be engaged in your career and want to continue to learn.”