It’s never too early for kids to start planning their futures and preparing for life after school. Jump-starting that process for area eighth-grade students is the focus behind the annual Career and College Tour scheduled for Oct. 8 at the Southeast Expo.

“The concept is to get eighth-graders thinking about what they need to do when they start high school, and focusing on high school curriculum,” said Barbara Gilbertson, EOSC Business Training and Continuing Education Coordinator. “Through this event, we try to get them to think in practical terms about the classes they’ll need to take in high school to lay the foundation for getting their dream job.”

The Career and College Tour brings members of business, industry, institutional and professional communities in to set up exhibits that allow them to interact directly with students.

“We have quite a collection of exhibits, and most involve hands-on activities that give kids a clear picture,” Gilbertson said. “For instance, the bankers might have them fill out an auto loan.

“Last year Drug Court did a mock trial, and the kids could be the lawyers, the defendant, or maybe a member of the jury. The Choctaw Nation Pharmacy had them counting pills, which were really M&Ms;, and Eastern’s nursing program brought a simulated person that kids could take vital statistics on.”

Gilbertson added that the event would not be possible without the many organizations partnering with EOSC, including McAlester Regional Health Center, which is donating $1,000 and providing six exhibits; McAlester Public Schools, McAlester Economic Development Services, the City of McAlester, which donated the use of the Expo; the Choctaw Nation and Kiamichi Technology Center, which will host 15 exhibits, including nursing, construction and business.

“All these partners have played a big part in planning the tour, as well as having exhibits on-site,” Gilbertson explained. “The whole event is made possible by generous donations of sponsors. It doesn’t cost anyone. Even lunch for adult volunteers and exhibitors is taken care of, and the only thing the schools are out is cost of fuel to transport kids.”

Students spend an hour to an hour and a half on the exhibit floor, visiting the various booths and taking part in inter-active activities.

“There are really too many exhibitors to name, but I know we’ll have law enforcement and fire departments exhibiting, the Defense Ammunition Center and the McAlester Ammunition Plant. Last year, Newfield Exploration brought geologists and engineers, and there will be banks, lawyers, doctors and nurses, to name a few.”

Last year hosted 92 exhibitors, coming close to the annual goal of 100.

While some students are on the exhibit floor, others are taken to another area to play “College and Community Road Trip,” an interactive game of life at the beginning of which students are handed a card with a career printed on it, and possibly spouses and various numbers of children.

When they’re handed the card, they also get the ‘money’ that is commensurate with the typical salary of the job they’ve been assigned, and sent into “life,” where 13 pretend businesses and places to spend their money await.

“Every now and then, as they continue through the game, the Grim Reaper shows up and gives them a ‘whammy,’” Gilbertson chuckled. “They’ll get some unexpected expense and they have to decide how to deal with it.

“It’s interesting to watch. Many of them, once they’re handed that money, go straight to the car dealership and buy a four-by-four truck.”

As part of the game’s experience, students must decide on such real-life issues as child care, medical care and other economic decisions they’ll face as adults.

In the meantime, Gilbertson said 52 adult volunteers are needed to play roles in the game.

While most exhibits are hosted by local businesses and professionals, there are a few that will be traveling.

“We have the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center from Hutchison, Ks., a world class space museum and science center coming in,” Gilbertson said. “And something else we have new this year is a Facebook page. We’re trying to encourage students to do research on the businesses participating, so we are putting short summaries on the Facebook site.”

The event hosts approximately 200 students at a time, in two and a half to three hour segments, beginning at 8:15 in the morning and continuing until 2:30.

For more information on Career and College Tour 2009, contact Gilbertson at bgilbertson@eosc.edu.

Contact Mandy Carter at mcarter@mcalesternews.

com.