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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

HELENA –  It is very important for children to start thinking about what career field they might want to go into in the future, which is why every year Helena Intermediate School hosts a career day event to bring in people representing different professions to help students get an idea of what possibilities are available for them.

Renita Matthews, HIS counselor, explained that the school hosts this event to give students more information about careers that they may not have even considered.

“We believe that the earlier we give children exposure to different careers the better they are to make a decision about what they would like to do in the future,” she explained.

This year approximately 55 different people came in to talk to students about their respective careers.

“We had a very unique group this year,”  Matthews said.

Some of the professions represented included musicians, a fitness instructor, veterinarian, medical technologist, pilot, a reporter and meteorologist from ABC 33/40 and even a federal agent.

This type of event helps children understand that there are many different paths toward a successful career in life.

While the traditional route is to go to college and find a job in a particular degree area, allowing children to meet with people who have successful careers without a college degree also provides important knowledge to help make a better decision about what path they would like to take.

Matthews also explained that this expands the options of future career choices for the students, and that she often hears from teachers and parents after these events that the students are thinking about careers they might not have considered before.

“This gives them an opportunity to find out about jobs that they may not have even known existed. We want them to have as many options as possible,” she said.