Career Exploration Summer Camp Provides Students a Preview of Programs

Three-week summer camp introduces students to CTE offerings

Eighth-grader Lucciano Mantino arrived on Southern Westchester BOCES’ Valhalla campus this summer with an end game: To learn how to build a fence at his White Plains home for the family dog, Chris. That led Mantino to enroll in a Construction course when the Center for Career Services debuted its Career Exploration Summer Camp.

After designing and building a small raised bed out of wood one week, he returned for an additional week.

“I want to know how to use a saw, how to properly use a hammer and nails,” Mantino said. “I’ve already learned a lot of new skills that I didn’t know before.”

Young students like Mantino were given the opportunity to learn those skills and explore new careers during three week-long sessions. Students had the option to choose from the following courses: 3D Modeling and Printing; Automotive; TV/Video Production; Commercial Art; Computer Coding; Construction; Cosmetology; Fashion Design; Sound Production; and Culinary Arts.

“We’ve taught them how to cut wood, how to properly use nails and other basic techniques,” Construction/Plumbing teacher Kurt Boysen said. “They build something that they can take home, and it’s giving them a good feel, a taste of what we do in our program. This way, if they decide to enroll here in the future, they know what they can expect.”

Students who joined teacher Sean Harty Rivera for a course on Sound Production worked on dubbing voices and saw how they can use available materials to create and engineer background noises. While doing so, they recreated a scene in “Space Jam,” with Rivera urging them to be creative. “There is no wrong answer,” he stressed.

  For example, to produce the sound of Bugs Bunny rolling up and down a projection screen, the students rubbed paper together and stretched a leather belt. A combination of the two sounds was remarkably effective.

“This is my way of showing eighth, ninth and 10th graders about the possibilities you can have in sound,” Rivera said. “Maybe this work calls to them? Most importantly, the students gain more knowledge and will be able to make the choice for themselves.”

Students don’t enroll in Center for Career Services programs until 11th grade, but some of the eighth, ninth, and 10th graders in attendance for the inaugural Career Exploration Summer Camp have already begun considering their options. One teacher, Chef Omar Laaraj, had a handful of students eying a future in the Culinary Arts program.

During his course, Chef Laaraj demonstrated proper knife skills while cutting ingredients for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. The students then broke into groups and went through the steps to create the savory treat for themselves.

 “I like to cook,” Trevor Dystricky, an eighth grader from White Plains, said after sampling a spring roll dipped in sweet chili sauce. “It’s fun, and I think it’s something I’d like to do.”

“I spend a lot of time baking with my mom,” added Giuliana Cicirielo, a Port Chester student about to start high school. “I wanted to try this out and also see how I liked the program.”

The Culinary course offered new creations to keep each week fresh for repeat students. But those who one day enroll in the two-year program will go on to also learn knife skills. They eventually cook and bake food consumed on campus.

“This is better than advertising,” Chef Laaraj said. “Hopefully we will have some students who realize, ‘OK, this is what I like to do.’”