A Blacktop's View into Future Opportunities

Students from Paul J. Rogers Elementary School got an opportunity to get a head start and plan for their future on Thursday, Oct. 30. The school held a ‘Career Day’ where they invited local people, organizations, and businesses to come out and encourage students to start thinking about what they want to do in the future. Each business set up a booth on the school's blacktop. The young students were told to come to school dressed accordingly to the profession they wanted to pursue in the future. “All of the students were really excited about this day… they seemed very passionate about each of their desired professions,” Paul J Rogers’ Principal Veronica Gonzales shared. Students were given a “bingo card” that they marked off as they visited each booth and asked them three questions. Once the students hit "bingo", their card was put into a raffle. The name picked from the raffle won a very special opportunity to take on the leadership role: "Principal for a day." The winning student was sixth grader Donaven Downey. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, he hung his pencil and book-bag up because he was the leader on campus for the day. “He shadowed the principal all day… he was really into it,” Gonzales shared. Gonzales added, “The goal was for the children to find out information about different careers and that goal was definitely met.” The many local businesses that attended included: The Colton Police Department, Colton Fire Department, San Bernardino Police Department, Crest Forest Fire, Precision Surveyors, Colton Public Utilities, Colton Electric, California Highway Patrol (CHP), Inland Empire 66ers and Derby Divas, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Hospitality Dental, Los Angeles Metro, Human Society of San Bernardino Valley, Jackie Bernal Photography, Gold Miners Association, Heaven Scent Custom Cupcakes, Colton Public Library, BPO Optical, Edison, University of California Riverside, Author Wayne Sergeant, Xcyphr Hair Salon, and many more.