Students Learn About Professional Vocations
Access Students Learn About Professional Vocations at Career-a-Palooza
Saint Louis, MO. May 9, 2013 Recently, students from six NativityMiguel schools travelled to Notre Dame High School for Career-A-Palooza.
Sponsored by Access Academies, Career-A-Palooza gave students the unique opportunity to engage with area professionals and learn about different careers and vocations.
“For us, it is about giving students exposure to career options while helping them set goals and plan for their futures,” said Blake Youde, Executive Director of Access Academies.
Working in small groups, students heard firsthand the real-world experiences of some of the area’s leading experts. An important lesson not taught through a textbook.
“I plan to do something with game design or marketing, and wanted to know how he (Garcia) got to where he is at today,” Jones said.
Garcia, Jones learned, graduated from Notre Dame with two degrees before earning his MBA. He then worked for a variety of organizations specializing in brand management and marketing before joining AB-InBev.
The day concluded with two simultaneous panel discussions broken down by gender to facilitate networking contacts and mentoring relationships. Panel members discussed their careers, from their first job to present positions, and shared advice, such as what they majored in while attending college. Some of the professionals also discussed what made them decide to follow different career paths over time, while others talked about what they liked and did not like about their career paths.
For more information regarding this release, please contact Julie Linder, Public Relations for Access Academies, by calling (573) 268-0639.
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Access Academies would like to thank the following professionals for presenting at Career-A-Palooza:
| Name | Profession | Place of Employment |
| Ariel Jenkins | Risk Control Manager | Safety National |
| Danielle Aziz | Videographer | Edward Jones |
| Dr. Miguel Paniagua | Physician | St. Louis University |
| Earlmika Jones | IT Professional | Safety National |
| Irving Moorehead | Firefighter | St. Louis Fire Department |
| Joe Jedlicka | Lawyer/Entrepreneur/Consultant | Independent Consultant |
| Neil Kalsi | Medical Student | St. Louis University |
| Patrick Ercole | Statistician/Professor | Washington University |
| Paul Minorini | Lawyer/Executive Director | Boys Hope Girls Hope |
| Roberto Garcia | Associate Brand Manager | Anheuser Busch InBev |
| Sarah Beams | Pastoral Care Worker | |
| Sterling Brown | Director of Diversity | St. Louis University High School |
| Tyrone Swinton | Police Officer | St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department |
| Vicki Gonzalez | Business Executive/Engineer | Nidus /Monsanto |
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Pictured: Roberto Garcia.jpg- Roberto Garcia meets with students during a session on marketing
Pictured: Joe Jedlicka.jpg- Joe Jedlicka talks about career path to becoming a lawyer
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About: Established in 2005, Access Academies (Academies Creating Challenging Education for St. Louis Students) is a not-for-profit corporation established to ensure that socially-and/or economically-disadvantaged students in the St. Louis area have Access to top-quality, values-based education, regardless of race, ethnicity or religious affiliation.
Access Academies makes a seven-year commitment to each student by employing the St. Louis NativityMiguel model of education and currently serves 153 middle school students at Most Holy Trinity School, St. Cecilia School, and St. Louis the King School, and provides comprehensive graduate support to more than 300 high school students who have graduated from the St. Louis NativityMiguel program at Access Academies.Â