Photo By Donna M Cipolloni | PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland (May 5, 2017) - Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Garvey,...... read more read more
Not every career choice involves encountering a shark, but it is a possibility for a Search and Rescue (SAR) swimmer, and it was a topic of interest to the student who inquired about it during a Q&A session at George Washington Carver Elementary School’s Career Day April 5.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Garvey, SAR corpsman at NAS Patuxent River, and Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class Brenden Pieszak, a SAR rescue swimmer, were two of a number of Pax River volunteers who spent the day sharing the details of their careers with rotating classes of inquisitive 3rd through 5th graders.
“It’s exciting anytime we can get out and interact with the community, especially if we can influence kids in a positive way and teach them about different career options,” Garvey said.
The SAR team members wanted their presentation to be as interesting as possible for the kids, so they brought along a rescue basket, medevac litter, rescue strop, rescue swimmer gear, a flight helmet and some medical equipment as visual aids.
“The kids were great and very attentive,” Garvey noted. “They seemed very interested and had some great questions for us.”
Each presenter had about 25 minutes with the different classes and the purpose of the event was to expose the students to a variety of careers available, not only at Pax, but in the broader community as well.
“We asked our presenters to discuss what their job is, what they had to do to get their job — such as college — and why they picked the field they’re in,” explained Lisa McCoy, the school’s parent liaison and coordinator of the event for the past eight years.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Alexandre Ngotsoungui, with the Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River pharmacy, taught the students how to use a blood pressure cuff and check ears for inflammation and wax using an audioscope.
“I think the day offers a great opportunity for young students who might have a desire to launch a career in the medical field to learn a little about what the field has to offer,” Ngotsoungui said. “It also helps break the stereotype students may have regarding the military in general and NAS Pax in particular.”
The manager of two organizations within NAVAIR’s Test and Evaluation community, Dean Meloney spoke about engineering in general and flight test engineering specifically.
“I brought a few videos and some old airplane parts to keep things moving,” he said. “I was impressed at how the school volunteer coordinator brought in all different types of careers, not just professionals. I’ve always strongly believed that education is a pathway to success and that our best chance of continued success as a community is to ensure our children are well-educated. Getting there is a shared responsibility, and I want to help.”
If the excited student chatter in the hallways between presentations was any indication, the day — which lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — was a success.
“As I walked through the building, the students had their clipboards with questions written down that they wanted to ask each presenter, because I let the teachers know in advance who was coming,” McCoy said. “I try to make it interesting by not having the same presenters every year. The teachers and students love this day.”
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2017 13:42 |
| Story ID: | 233667 |
| Location: | PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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