ST PETERSBURG, Fla. – Around 900 students from Pinellas and Hillsborough County descended upon the Mahaffey Theatre for BAM! (Books, Art and Music) Festival Career Day.
“I just hope they have a wonderful day away from school, and they learned something, and they were exposed to something they maybe never have seen before,” Bill Edwards Foundation For The Arts Vice President of Arts Education Katrina Young.
Dig deeper:
The students, ranging from pre-K to high school, get bussed over to spend three hours rotating through different stations that focus on different careers including wildlife conservation, respiratory therapy, roofing, performance comedy, drumming and professional soccer. They also received a backstage tour of the theatre.
What they’re saying:
“The hands-on interaction makes the teaching experience so much more memorable, especially for kids,” Pharaoh’s Wildlife Kingdom Owner Pharaoh Gayles said.
Gayles had one of the biggest cheating codes when it came to a demonstration, live reptiles. He taught the students all about snakes, lizards, tortoises and crocodiles. Of course, they were all able to touch the animals.
“My hope from the 10 minutes that they’re here with me is that maybe they have a spark, maybe they go to their parents, maybe they have a career that they want to pursue when they get older,” Gayles said. “Giving them that experience that we had when we were younger that got us into what we’re doing now, you never know who you’re educating as far as the kids go.”
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Transport Respiratory Therapist Kris Spengler came with the biggest “prop” of the day, a large ambulance.
“It’s so much easier to have hands-on. We have all of our equipment that we use day to day, and it really shows them just how the parts and pieces work to take care of the smallest babies.”
What’s next:
The next BAM! Fest will be on December 3, and the theme will be Puppetry Unleashed.
The Source: The information gathered for this story was by photojournalist Barry Wong.