8th GRADE CAREER DAY

May 21st, 2024

Eastern Middle School's Career Day is an enlightening experience for our 8th graders.

A big thank you to Shamiel Gary for visiting the 8th graders during Career Day! Shamiel is a former NFL football player (Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Buffalo Bills) who has turned his personal story of overcoming adversity and setbacks to achieve his goals into an inspirational presentation for students.

The students enjoyed Shamiel's message of resiliency, "bouncing back" from setbacks and teaching your brain to be positive. Ending his message, Shamiel challenged several of the students to Rock Paper Scissors, and whoever lost (Shamiel or the student) had to do 5 pushups!

Shamiel would like to share with the students and parents his "Positive Affirmations" and "Gratitude Worksheet & Thank You Note".

A special thank you to the 2024 Career Day Speakers from the Greenwich community. We were delighted to have the following 30 incredible participants volunteer their time to speak to our 8th graders on Tuesday, May 21st, 2024

Scott Atkinson, Jen Bird, Paige Bradley, Janet Bodey, Becca Chodos, Lauren Cuneo, Frank Deluca, Sandhya Dhruvakumar, Lauren Popper Ellis, Tine Fincioen, Julia Galotto, GEMS volunteers, Barrett Gilmer, Emily Goodman, Annabella Jucius, Steve Kilcullen, Maya Korin, Clare Flynn Levy, Mike Lisjak, J.B. Lockhart, Austin Longi, Michael Manning, Jennifer Minehardt, Jim Muchmore, Jamie Renwick, Scott Rodgers, Rebecca Shumaker, Karen Sutton, Michael Touna and Jessica Wieneke.

The event kicked off with a general assembly for all 8th graders. In the keynote address, J.B. Lockhart, current CFO of A24 and former CFO of the NBA, shared career advice in an informative conversation with Jen Bird, owner of Athena Books.

Students then participated in three interactive sessions, each led by 2 different speakers representing diverse career paths and industries. Each session included a Q&A with the speakers. . Students have the chance to express their interests beforehand, ensuring that they are matched with speakers who align with their desired career paths. This format allows them to explore various career options firsthand, engage in meaningful discussions, and gain valuable insights into different professions. From Public Health & Medicine to Entrepreneurship, from Technology & Business Management to Fine Art & Design, students had the opportunity to delve into an array of fields.

Most of our speaking panel came from the GPS community, including many parents of current EMS students offering students relatable role models and mentors!

A complete list of speaker bios can be viewed here. This year's Career Day featured speakers from the following sectors:

Brand Development
Community Based Initiatives and Non-Profits
Construction & Real Estate
Education
Design
Entrepreneurship & Small Business Ownership
Finance
Fine Art
Law
Medicine (Orthopedic Surgery, Oral Surgery, Veterinary Medicine, & Cardiac Electrophysiology)
Public Health
Science & Pharmaceuticals
Marketing

Thank you for your contributions to the Eastern Middle School PTA. Events like this one are made possible through your support and generosity!

Please contact Allison Maus or Harriet Gilmer for more details or any questions.

Glimpse of Career Day 2023

A special thank you to our Career Day Speakers from the Greenwich community. We were delighted to have the following participants speak on Tuesday, May 23rd, to our 8th graders:

Josefina Akerman, Jen Bird, Janet Bodey, Alston Calabrese, Frank DeLuca, Vicky Dussich, Sharon Elkayam, Arwen Evans, Tine Fincieon, Clare Flynn Levy, Shane Foley, Brielle Goldfaden, Julie Hall, Hillary Harper, Harsha Jain, Sarah Jenkins, Bruce Johnson, David Joosten, Annabella Jucius, Lisa Kerney, Maya Korin, Daphe Lamsvekt-Pol, Jackie Marks, Sarah Nia Keshvarzian, Camilla Pedersen, Lily Perry, Carolina Pombar, Paul Sethi, Joe Summa, Mike Van Oss, Rain Wang, Katie Watson, and Lori Woodring.

Our students began this event with a general assembly in which former EMS teacher Bruce Johnson and former EMS student Harsha Jain spoke about the importance of passion and perseverance when determining a career path. Students were then dismissed to attend three different sessions with our speakers. The students were exposed to a wide variety of career options and offered the opportunity to ask questions and participate in hands-on interaction.

The majority of our speaking panel came from our GPS community! Students had the opportunity to request their desired areas of interest. Please click here for the available speaker bios. This year's Career Day featured speakers in various career sectors. These sectors included: