Burrell students benefit from hands-on look at job experiences, careers

Entering his senior year at Burrell High School last fall, Cameron Wagner was dead set on pursuing a career in architecture.

Thanks to a new senior seminar course at the high school, Wagner, 18, was able to meet the district’s architect to see what the profession is really like.

“I thought that’s what I wanted to do, but I realized it’s not exactly what I wanted to do,” he said.

“A year in this class saved me a year of my college life.”

The senior seminar class, which debuted at Burrell this year, didn’t teach traditional job exploration but rather gauged students’ interest in different careers and guided them on the possible paths they could take to achieve the profession they desire.

Students researched careers that interested them, got hands-on experience and were able to interview experts in the field. They presented their research projects from the yearlong seminar Thursday.

“It’s all these pieces to consider — what is your plan for your next steps?” teacher Amanda Pagnotta said. “It’s trying to get them out of that mindset that there’s only one path you have to take.”

Of the 31 seniors who took the course, no two projects were alike, Pagnotta said.

Some of the careers studied by students included a car mechanic, pediatric nursing, and sports and business management.

Students also got a closer look at things necessary for certain jobs. Students interested in nursing, for example, got a closer look at HIPAA laws, and business students learned about LLCs and taxes, Pagnotta said.

Others got real-world job experience. One student, Samantha Stell, student-taught in a preschool classroom. She intends on pursuing early childhood education at Westmoreland County Community College.

For Wagner, after he realized architecture is not something he wants to pursue, he then looked into business and engineering and was able to meet with the school’s engineer.

While he’s still a little unsure of his career, he plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown to study mechanical engineering and play soccer.

“I’m appreciative of the class,” he said. “For incoming students at Burrell, it’s something that can be used in their college search.”

Kennzie Girard, 18, also a student at the Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center, gave a presentation on how digital artists can work with 3D modeling, animation techniques and virtual and augmented reality.

A “doodler” all her life, she intends to pursue a career in multimedia. The senior seminar and courses at the career technology center were the perfect blend to find a career she was passionate about, she said.

“It gives a better understanding of what I’m getting into,” she said.

A.J. McLafferty, 18, always wanted to get into sports management, and the seminar at Burrell helped to fine-tune that goal.

“I knew what I wanted to do off the rip,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed sports, so I definitely wanted to do something with sports, and sports management was that.”

He was able to have an internship with the Burrell athletic department and has a summer gig lined up at Saint Vincent College, where he plans to study sports management and play baseball.

He is interested in a career as an athletic director or sports analyst. The program at Burrell gave him a “leading step” among other seniors interested in the profession, he said.

“The seminar provided knowledge,” he said. “This class helped me narrow it down.”