Career Quest #1

Hello! This is an extremely busy week for us but I just had to take the time to write about our day today because it was fabulous. If you homeschool, I highly recommend doing this. It is imperative that you keep your group size small to be accommodating to the businesses, and we learned you should probably plan to stop by lunch if you start at 9:30 :) I am looking forward to our next one.

Here's what we did: We contacted businesses within a small area in Tupelo and asked if we could come visit. We asked them to tell us about the careers/jobs they have within their business. We scheduled stops every 30 minutes from 9:30-2:00 with an hour break for lunch and play at the park.  Here are the results!

Our first stop was at Simply Sweet.  We learned about starting your on business and what being a baker is all about! 3:00 a.m. waking time and working until 4 or so in the evening--those are long hours! We were all treated with chocolate dipped strawberries and even enjoyed another sweet treat from there at lunchtime thanks to one of the moms. The group also had a real view of reality. Last night, someone broke into the bakery and a business showed up to replace the glass door. I was also really encouraged by hearing the owner explain how giving and helpful other businesses in the area had been (providing free advertising, and delivering things needed, etc.).

Our next stop: Sherwin Williams! We toured the front and the back area. They demonstrated how to tint paint. We learned when to use a sprayer for painting or when to use brush/rollers. A customer came in, and he let the boys pick the paint up and be involved in the tinting process for the customer. 

Next up: Main Street Family Denistry; We learned about the jobs within the office-secretary, office manager, hygienist, assistant, and dentist. In addition, we got a really good pep talk about educational requirements, teamwork, and developing good studious habits at an early age. We joked that we wished we would have recorded it to replay to our kids at various times! They treated the students with toothbrushes.

After the dentist visit, we walked next door to Alpha Insurance Agent, Gregg Ott.  I forgot to snap pictures here.  I was so mad at myself! Anyway, we learned what insurance is and how it works. We also found out if you aren't responsible (paying your bills on time, etc), you have to pay more for your insurance.

The last pre-lunch stop--The Main Attraction and Coffee Emporium. We learned about being an entrepreneur and how one finds things to put in the store. We also got an up close demonstration of the work of a barista as customers came in. We even got a quick geography lesson from some customers who came in from Ireland. The next customers volunteered to give us a history lesson at her antique business in Pontotoc! How awesome is that?! It was also neat that one of the homeschool families actually live in an apartment above this business.

We took a break at Fairpark for lunch and of course, play. As always, the play never lasts long enough to suit the kiddos. After the break, we visit Looking Good & Foot Gear. We learned how to select items that your customers like, fashioning mannequins, and how to make a profit when you sell. John Gannon was fascinated with all the style in the shop. He was begging for some hats, belts, fancy shirts, and sports coats. This store has John Gannon's flare all in it! I am positive we will be making a return trip. And can you believe that as we were leaving the owners gave all the children a cupcake from Simply Sweet! 

Our last stop was Cardiology Associates. We learned about the profession and the education/training involved. We even heard an excellent story from the Nurse Practioner who was meeting with us of how she explored other career options before making a final decision.

This was such a great day of learning! (And just for the record since I don't blog as frequently as I use to about all of our activities, we attended Health & PE classes at Healthworks on Monday. We watched Goosebumps (Jackson joined us) on Tuesday. We did the Career Quest today. Tomorrow, we play bingo at an assisted living home and tour Reed's Metal in Saltillo. In the meantime, John Gannon is still getting all of his tasks for the week done. He is on track to be finished tomorrow. As a reward--if he finishes all the tasks-I am going to credit him with 16 tasks toward his Warrior Training. He has no clue but I want him to know that hard work and persistence pays off. If we were still following our old way of doing school-we would have missed out on a lot of work this week. 

Live a Meaningful Life!