Desert View Intermediate held its first Career Day Expo last week, and it was a big success.

Career Day was the idea of Jodian Brown, Desert View fourth-grade teacher, with help from Seth Laughter, Jonalyn Diez and Dovey Castillo.

Career Day was something that happened annually at the school where Brown taught in her home country of Jamaica. It worked well there, and she thought it would make a great addition to Desert View.

“At an early age, we try to instill in the students that having a career, a job, a skill is necessary for being a successful adult, and in order to attain that, a person needs to have a good education,” Brown said.

Desert View and Lake View have both recently added AVID programs, which emphasize college and career readiness for students.

“When we have conversations with students about college or career, they often don’t have a true idea what that means,” Brown said. “When I ask them, ‘What do you want to become when you grow up?’ and they ask, ‘What do you mean by that?’

“I thought it would be a good idea to expose them to different types of careers and broaden their horizons, and start them thinking about what they might want to do as a career.”

Career Day helps students have a stronger concept about the path from education to career.

“When students can see the end result of education, I think it helps them see why reading is important, why math is important, why science is important,” Brown said. “Any path they take, they will need strong reading skills, they will need strong math skills.”

More than 20 businesses and professionals from Page came to the Desert View Career Day at the invitation of Brown and Wright. They set up tables and booths inside the Desert View gym. Students visited the gym in groups and had a chance to talk with people at the booths and ask them questions. 

Desert View Principal Mary Stahl was very happy with how the event came together, and how much her students gained from it.

“The students were so engaged,” Stahl said. “It was cool to see them interacting with community members. I saw them asking a lot of questions. After school, I overheard a group of them talking about it. One said he wanted to be a policeman, and another said she wanted to be a nurse.”

Following the success of this year’s Career Day Expo, Desert View plans to make it an annual event.

This is Brown’s fourth year teaching at Desert View. Prior to moving to Page, she taught school for several years in Jamaica.

“I love working here,” she said. “Page is a lot like my home. It’s relaxed and easygoing. I left home because I wanted to reignite my passion for teaching, and Desert View has done that for me.”

Being at Desert View has given Brown the opportunity to grow into leadership positions, something she is enjoying doing. 

“Jodian did an excellent job putting this together and exposing our students to some of the opportunities that await them,” Stahl said.