More than 200 business experts, parents, students attend Indian Trail’s first Senior Portfolio Night
By Heather Zons
At the start of Senior Portfolio Review Night, Communications Senior Caryn Boheen was considering a career as an obstetrician-gynecologist. As the night went on, the OBGYN was nowhere to be found, so Boheen decided to talk to another professional: an emergency room nurse. After much discussion, Boheen saw a different path emerge in her future.
“They changed my mind as to what I want to do,” Boheen said.
If she wouldn’t have participated in Senior Portfolio Review Night or wouldn’t have been as open to the idea of the event, she wouldn’t have learned about this newfound career path that she wants to follow.
“It was a really good idea. If people actually took it seriously, it really helped you find out what you want to do…you don’t get that in a Google search,” she said.
On Jan. 13, Boheen and 28 other Correlations of Design and Graphics students displayed his or her projects over the past two years for fellow onlookers at this event. Professionals from the Kenosha community that students requested to see encompassed the main group of attendees.
The Indian Trail High School & Academy commons included a multitude of tables, each covered in the student’s favorite pieces of artwork, bulletin boards of art pieces, and members of Indian Trail’s band playing soft music to lighten up any tension students may be exhibiting. This event counts as the students’ final exam, so they dressed up and put smiles on their faces.
Once the event started, the tension was off of everyone’s shoulders. All of the students were very glad to have the opportunity to speak with professionals in fields that they are interested in delving into.
After all, the opportunity to talk to professionals from the real world about professions that the students have requested was the evening’s main goal.
Terah Aarnio had one of the 29 communication project tables at this event and is thinking about a career in the U.S. Air Force. She really enjoyed the event and believed it was very beneficial, she said.
“Talking to other professionals definitely did help me make decisions about my future. I had a lot of good conversations with my Air Force recruiter,” Aarnio said.
Visitors could tell that the students really enjoyed the event. Mary Snyder, president of the Kenosha Unified School District school board, was one of those visitors.
“I was really surprised by the level of engagement the students had with the professionals. They asked really pertinent questions about wanting to know how to direct themselves into a career in that direction…I really enjoyed listening to the kids talk about their work,” Snyder said.
What did an actual professional that was invited to attend think of it all?
“I think it was awesome…I am very impressed. What [the students] did in Illustrator I think is outstanding,” said Kyle Rudin, a fine dining chef from the House of Gerhard in Kenosha, Wis.
One of the positive comments that was on the tips of everyone’s tongues was the benefit that the students were able to verbally experience their careers of choice. They got to hear all of the positives and negatives of that career to really help them in their future decisions.
“It is beneficial to teach the students that there is a real life outside of high school; college doesn’t teach you that either. You have to be out there to get your hands dirty,” said Rudin.
Snyder also commented on the application of portfolio night to the real world.
“Schools need to do more of that…so the students can see real-life situations and how what they do in school applies to the outside world. The students should be really proud of what they have here,” she said.
Overall, the event was a huge success, with about 250 people attending. Many of the people who came to see the artwork and communications projects were either the professionals or parents of students with work on display.
“I thought it was really nice that [the students] can come and talk to whoever they wanted to and you are free to talk to people who have a career you are interested in. The small amount of people made it very personal and easy to talk to the kids,” said Jessica Doyle, secretary to KUSD Superintendent of Schools Michele Hancock.
What did the adviser of the entire event, Correlations of Design and Graphics teacher Sandra Bleser, think of the turnout?
“I am very pleased. It obviously did go well, because there are still people hanging out and sharing in discussions,” Bleser said. “Some of the feedback I’ve gotten from professionals is that they are telling me they are very happy with the students and they are very engaged and interested in what they are saying. The professionals want to do it again, thanks to the positive feedback!”