On Friday, December 19, the Wilkes County Community Partnership (WCCP) will host "Career Explorations Day: Fields of Opportunity" for grades 6-9 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Washington-Wilkes Middle/ High School Gymnasium. Gift bags and door prizes will be available for the students. WCCP received a $5,000 "Communities in Schools of Georgia (GISGA) Bridgebuilder Grant" to make the event possible.

Middle and high school counselors, graduation coaches, career explorations teachers, vocational supervisors, and the WCCP Executive Director form the planning committee, along with assistance from other community partners such as Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Director Ashley Barnett and a student advisory committee.

A student career interest survey will be presented. Lise Kalla, WWMS career explorations teacher, has guided her students through a fact-finding research project about various careers. Their creative and ingenious posters will decorate the walls outside her classroom.

Students are encouraged to enter an essay contest by writing a 1- to 3-page essay entitled, "My Life, As I See It." In the essay, students will be asked to include who they are, where they are going in life, and how they plan to get there. The essay contest participants will be given the opportunity to visit a college and technical school. They will also get to attend the annual Morehouse-Spelman Christmas Carol Concert on the Morehouse College campus in Atlanta. Other prizes and incentives will be given to the participants, such as t-shirts, MP3s, and DVD players.

Two keynote speakers, Dr. Ralph D. Simpson, Assistant Superintendent for DeKalb County Schools and author of "From Remedial to Remarkable" and Michael Bright, a motivational speaker and writer/ founder of PurePotential, along with several other "homegrown" professionals will be addressing the youth throughout the day.

"The purpose of this event is to inspire a new level of academia and scholarship among our students, and to combat the problems of school failure and increased dropout rates," says Amethyst Wynn, Executive Director of WCCP. "The students of Washington-Wilkes will be prosperous and have good success."