Sutton Middle School Hosts Final of 4 Career Speaker Days!

Today I was privileged to visit Sutton Middle School and attend their final Career Speaker Day for this school year. Middle school teacher, Vanessa Haerle did the bulk of the outreach to coordinate this event with support from her amazing colleagues. Today was the 4th of four Career Speaker Days with previous events happening in October, January, and March. The event impacted over 200 7th and 8th grade students at Sutton, with previous session integrating high schoolers as well.

Angela Lavoie, Director of Human Research Protection Program at Beth Israel discusses career pathways in nursing with SHS students

I happen to be an alumna of the Sutton Public School system and wish we had Career Speaker Days when I was in middle school. Even as a student who was pretty passionate about a specific pathway in junior high, I know I would have benefitted from the additional exposure.

Sutton Middle School's quarterly program typically brings in 10-12 speakers per session. Today the speakers' backgrounds range from agriculture to health & science, engineering, and law enforcement.

It was lovely to close out the series on such a nice, sunny day, as students had the opportunity to meet some livestock from Sutton Agricultural Trust. They learned a bit about natural fertilizer... in addition to hands-on experiences using a fence post driver and removing a fence post! Haerle herself was the supervisor of this particular group, which was understandably very popular.

I was happy to see some familiar faces in the hallway including Sutton High School Internship Coordinator, Sergio Marcucci, Assistant District Attorney, Anthony Mella, Middle School Principal Shawn Rickan and a guest invited to the event by BV Hub, Joann Monks, Program Coordinator for BVT's Practical Nursing Program.

I hope the students learned as much as I did this afternoon. Thank you to all the speakers and to the Sutton Public Schools for all they do to promote curiosity and growth in their students. I'm proud to have roots in this community.

Kristin Carra, Joann Monks, Patrick Mulcahy Jennifer Darling, Anthony Mella, Joe Pawlak, and Angela Lavoie (not pictured, Sutton Agricultural Trust Team and Taylor Fenerety)

Are you interested in learning more about career speaker opportunities? Don't hesitate to contact barrett.lauren@bvhub.org to join our list. We are frequently contacted throughout the school year about opportunities like Sutton Middle School's Career Speaker Day. We also host our own BV Hub 20/40 Speaker Series, which benefits 13 different school districts in Central Massachusetts.

SHS Alumna, Alyssa of Sutton Agricultural Trust