Photo courtesy of Alice Elmore.
0614 VHEW Career Day
Officer Andy Kimbrel let students try on equipment.
In April, third graders at Vestavia Hills Elementary-West were given a glimpse of several different careers. Six individuals met with small groups of students, sharing with them what it’s like in their professions, giving them a look at the tools they use, and answering the third graders’ questions.
Six very different careers were highlighted as the following individuals devoted a morning to VHEW’s career day: Jill Smith, Audiology Supervisor at Children’s of Alabama; Terrill Brazelton, Executive Chef with Slice; Boyd Kaiser, VP, Account Director with Martin Advertising; Brian Cespedes, Senior Technology Architect; Andy Kimbrel, VHEW’s student resource officer; and Dr. Carmel McNicholas-Bevensee, UAB Assistant Professor of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology.
The professionals shared valuable information about the work they do everyday and how they prepared for their careers. Students learned about the restaurant business as they toured the Slice food truck. Members of the SWAT and criminal investigation team came along with Office Kimbrel, and introduced students to the equipment and methods used in their line of work. Dr. McNicholas-Bevensee shared with students a brief version of PhUn, an outreach program used by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and developed by the American Physiological Society. PhUn stands for Physiology Understanding—students take part in hands-on exploration of such things as stethoscopes, cow hearts, and pig lungs.
-Submitted by Alice Elmore
