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“I think the benefits over the past years shows a college coming together to provide an opportunity for the kindergartners and their parents to see what community college life is like,” Neil said.
Neil said that people have questioned why the focus of the career day has been on young children, rather than high schoolers, for a few years.
“We can never start too early with the focus of college,” Neil said. “The partnership with Alum Rock School District started about six years ago, and I think everyone agrees that it would be nice to have this opportunity for all students: elementary, middle and high schoolers.”
“SJCC has mainly worked within the college to try to get all the programs and departments on board with setting up booths. It is a lot of SJCC’s time but hardly any money Alum Rock School District is funding 99 percent of this year’s event.”
The children, wearing caps that read “I’m going to college,” moved in groups to different stations, including cosmetology, math, reading, sports, and the police and fire departments.
Lt. Ruben Chavez of the SJCC police said he came to provide the children with the opportunity to be exposed to different careers.
“They never get a chance to talk to the police or sit in a police car,” Chavez said. “The kids are excited, but it’s exciting to us as well. The kids are so curious!”
In the gym, student volunteers engaged the children with different types of sports.
Alejandra Hernandez, 19, a kinesiology major, was there representing the Lady Jaguar softball team.
“We want to give back to the community and help the kids who want to play sports,” she said. “We all have fun playing with the kids.”
Kathy De Arana, a kindergarten teacher for Alum Rock, said that even though her class is young she has been able to include the trip to SJCC into her curriculum.
“The kids really looked forward to coming,” De Arana said. “We talked about what we want to be when we grow up and that you may need to go to college.”
Michael Casas, SJCC’s Director of Student Activities, said the children enjoyed the stations because they were able to get involved with hands on experiences.
“We engage the community,” Casas said. “I like to see the big smiles on their faces.”
Casas pointed to the necklaces that the children wore, which said what they want to be when they grow up, and said, “Those are the hopes and dreams of the future.”
