On Thursday, October 29^th, 2009 I attended the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Career expo. This is where the Career Service center hosts to students and alumni allowing them to meet with numerous recruiters about careers in the agricultural and life sciences industry. The career expo was an opportunity for me to go around to different recruiters, gain knowledge about their company and become interested in their business.

While at the career show there were a few places that caught my eye. I spoke to representatives from the Disney Epcot science, North Carolina Corporative Extension, Franklin County schools, James River, Smithfield packing and AgCarolina Financial. But the one that I had the most interest in was the Franklin County Schools representatives.

When I spoke to Ms. Jones, who is the Career and Technical Educations person for Franklin County Schools, she began to discuss with me about the school system that they have. There are only three high schools in Franklin County, however all of the schools teach agricultural education. Many of their programs teach all of the classes such as horticulture, biotechnology, agricultural mechanics, and AgScience. Never the less animal science is slowly growing and Ms. Jones believes that it could very soon be an additional course in all the curriculums.

Speaking with Ms. Jones really sparked my interest even more in teaching. But I do not know if Franklin County would be the best place for me as far as my career goals go. I plan on majoring in agricultural education but with concentration in Animal Science. If I wanted to teach animal science I would not necessarily be guaranteed a job in that pathway at one of the Franklin County Schools.

Ms. Jones suggested I keep in touch, which I plan to do. She says that many times they offer the opportunity for students interested in teaching to come in and shadow the teachers. To just gain more knowledge as to what they do. I also learned about many of the things that Franklin County school system offers for those who sign with them. You get a signing bonus, teacher supplements, a free dental plan, life insurance, early release days for staff development, mentoring programs for new teachers, low student to teacher ration, coaching opportunities and close to Raleigh, Durham, & Chapel Hill.

Ms. Jones was very nice and made me feel comfortable. She made me feel as though she was interested to hear what I had to say and offer me information about the school system. Overall, I believe the career show was a success. I had the opportunity to meet with recruiters from other areas in agriculture and allow me to discuss with them internships. However, I felt like The Franklin County Schools was the one that had the biggest impact on me as far as my future career goals.

Spoke to: Laureen Jones  laureengjones@feschools.net