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Live Oak School Career Day inspires students

Live Oak Elementary School hosted a Career Day for a portion of its student body on Friday, January 18. Twenty residents of our community represented an equal number of careers. The thread that ran through the presentations that I was able to witness was the stress placed on a college education.

North County Fire Captain Mark Couglar encouraged the students to not only obtain a college degree but to continue education throughout their lives. He told the students that his father, a chief for North County Fire, was the inspiration for his career in firefighting.

He told the group of fourth- and fifth-graders what preparation is needed to become a firefighter – from two years of college to the fire training. The fire training included such maneuvers as climbing up tall ladders to see if you are afraid of heights. Couglar, who is 54, said that he keeps in shape in order to perform the rigorous duties of a firefighter.

One of the students asked Captain Couglar, “Is it fun to go down the big fire pole?” Couglar told him that they don’t have a fire pole. He said that some firefighters would break their ankles sliding down the poles. He told the children that they have to sleep at the station during their shifts and if he were awakened at 2 a.m. he said, “I’d just as soon walk down stairs.”

Another student asked him if he had ever been injured on the job. Couglar told the student that in the 30 years he has been a firefighter he has only been injured twice, but neither of the injuries was serious. He said that training and following rules is a good deterrent to injuries.

Two park rangers from Guajome Regional Park in Oceanside also spoke to the students. Rangers Rachel Carter and Rusty Rodes stressed the value of teamwork in their job. “We love what we do – it is hard work, but we love it,” said Ranger Carter.

“Our job is to make sure that you have a safe time,” said Ranger Rodes. They patrol in their trucks, and also check playground equipment. The rangers stressed the fact that you need a college degree to become a park ranger.

Charles Jonesrebandt, who is an electrical engineer with a BS degree and a Master’s in business administration, first asked the students what they thought an engineer did, then told them that an engineer “redesigns things to make them better or creates things that haven’t been created.” He explained that the Wii is just a redesign of Pong, the first video game.

Jonesrebandt said that one of the benefits of being an engineer is that he has the ability to “design and build just about anything.” He showed the students slides of his home and some of the designs that he made, some of which included a home theater.

He stressed the need for at least a Bachelor’s degree but said that some engineers have medical degrees and are able to design and develop medical-related products.

One of the more colorful presentations was from Scott Pickell, who is in marketing for Chick-fil-A restaurants. He explained some basic marketing concepts to a room full of third-graders. Pickell told them that the number one concept was to get people to think of them, and the number two concept was to get people to love them. He then brought in Chick-fil-A’s mascot, a cow, who shook hands with some of the students.

He asked the students why they thought the cow was the symbol for Chick-fil-A, and several students responded that the cows would hold a sign that told them to eat more chicken because the cow would be eaten if the chicken wasn’t.

Pickell left the students with some valuable advice: “In college, study things that you are interested in.”

 

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