Tusculum College will host area high school juniors on Thursday, April 7, for the second annual Junior Conference focusing on higher education opportunities and career awareness.
Alumni volunteers are being sought to help with the event, which will bring juniors from all five Greene County high schools to the Tusculum campus. More than 800 students are expected to attend.
Students will attend a variety of sessions that will provide career information first-hand from local company representatives and from area professionals who will share information about their fields.
The students will be divided up into morning and afternoon sessions, with each student having the opportunity to select two sessions to attend from the more than 20 choices offered, said Tankersley.
A keynote session featuring Nathan Honeycutt will be held at 8:30 a.m. Honeycutt, a successful architect, will speak about achieving one’s life dream. In his career, he has been the lead designer on many architectural and master planning projects in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and China. Some of his major projects include the Georgia Aquarium and the Dubai Towers, currently under construction. He currently lives in East Tennessee and is one of the owners of Honeycutt Architecture.
Following the opening session will be two 45 minute sessions that the participating students will have the opportunity to choose from College Track, Vocational Track and Career Choices.
Participating companies include the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, Century 21 Legacy, Mountain States Health Alliance and Laughlin Memorial Hospital.
Career/Professional topics covered during the career choice talk include sport management, nursing, education, athletic training, physical therapy, medical technology, business, pharmacy and law.
Alumni are needed to volunteer as moderators or campus guides for the sessions. The moderators are responsible for introducing the guest speaker (a bio will be supplied), assist the presenter with any set-up problems (the IT staff will be on call), monitor student behavior, help engage the question and answer process and help students identify their next destination.
Campus guides will be responsible for directing students to their session location and will be stationed outside to help students identify the building where they need to go. Some guides will lead a group of students to the appropriate building.
The event will involve a full-day commitment of volunteers. Volunteers need to arrive on campus at 8:15 a.m. and the event should be over by 2:15 p.m. The College will provide lunch for all volunteers.
To volunteer, please contact Colleen Cox, coordinator of alumni relations, at ccox@tusculum.edu.