On Feb. 23, Emily Dickinson Elementary and Explorer Community School in Redmond held a career fair to encourage students to think about possible careers that interest them and learn how to set goals.

School counselor Debra Wilson came up with the idea of a career fair in order to get students ready for their future. Wilder Elementary School in Woodinville held a similar event, also coordinated by Debra Wilson, on Feb. 22 which included many of the same guest speakers.

“Many of these students will have jobs that don’t even exist now,” Wilson said. “We need to teach them the skills that they need to be future ready, no matter what career they end up having.”

She also expressed the importance for parents and guardians to talk about work in a way that celebrates what they are doing — that people should be doing something they enjoy. Students were encouraged to interview someone in their family about their jobs to get a better idea of what that person does for a living.

As a former high school counselor, Wilson would often meet with students who had not made the right elective choices in their high school career to help them get into the colleges of their choice. By having an idea about what career paths interest them, students can better plan ahead for their high school classes and beyond. This can start as early as elementary school, by determining what skills or activities interest each student the most.

Guest speakers for the career fair included John and J.J. Ballew from Olympic Elevator Company, school nurses Elaine Sheppard and Joyce Roeder, Pastor Owen Jacobsen from Timberlake Church, UPS Store manager Jack Graham, pediatric nurse Lisa Massey, former Seahawk Lawyer Milloy, attorney Karen Galipeau-Forner,  Myrissa Yamishiro from Anytime Fitness, school principal Karen Barker, car dealer Lance Carter and Gene Oates from Intellectual Ventures Lab.

Oates also served as the keynote speaker at an all-school assembly before students broke into smaller groups for the career day presentations.