It’s never too soon for young students to consider their future goals, as superstars in their respective fields often have their minds made up career-wise from an early age.
The seventh-grade class at Lincoln Middle School can attest to this, as students dressed for success on Tuesday to take part in the 33rd edition of Worthwhile Life Interviews. At the Lincoln library, students were interviewed by local community members on the topics of "Who Am I?" and "What is a Worthwhile Life?" inspiring introspective thoughts about where the students may end up later in life.
Students got ready for the event all year long, preparing for the mini-interview experience by building "Who Am I" folders with a host of written materials. Throughout the year, the "Who Am I" project included pieces of poetry, argumentative essays, informational essays and a collage of their interests; helping nail down potential career paths that are further broached in the professional-style interviews.
"Research shows that it’s beneficial for kids at this age group to practice articulating their goals, and it synthesizes the information that we’ve been talking about all year … it [also] gives them real-world skills of interviewing, interviewing skills, as well as using academic language and an interview [in] a professional setting," Lincoln Humanities teacher Elizabeth Hartson said of the event.
The "Who Am I?" And "What is a Worthwhile Life?" questions were discussed in all subject areas this year, ranging from talks in subjects like English, history, math, science and electives. In class sessions, teachers used sentence framing to give them the language for a successful interview, transferring lessons in the classroom to conversational skills.
Students were able to prepare answers for their interviews ahead of time, but weren’t able to take these scripted answers into the interview, mirroring a real-life job hunt and building aptitude in public speaking.
"[It’s] giving them confidence," Hartson said. "I think in most situations in the real world, there’ll be times when you need to present yourself in a positive light [and] I think throughout school and then when they’re looking for a job, I think it’s just a good confidence builder."
Hartson served as advisor for the event alongside fellow Humanities teacher Sara Greenfield, who called Worthwhile Life one of the best days of the year for her students.
"[They] rise to the occasion, they’re all nervous when they come into the interview, then as they leave, they’re super relieved and excited and proud," Greenfield said.
The public speaking setting also allowed students to break out of their classroom shells for the day, aided by the adult volunteers that kept a curious, vibrant energy while speaking to the young Lincoln Lions.
"[For] kids who might have struggled in class at times, it’s really great to see how good they feel after doing the interviews [and] our interviewers really make a point on focusing on everything positive," Hartson said. "It’s just a really heartwarming, nice experience for everyone."
