By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

From doctors to dolphin trainers and police officers to chefs, careers ran the gauntlet Nov. 18 at the second annual Osceola County Public Schools Teach-In, where more than 1,000 local professionals spoke to students about their profession, taught a class or outlined life experiences , such as traveling with the armed forces.

“Our students were exposed to a variety of careers; it also gave great exposure to our schools,” Superintendent Michael Grego said. “We love our partnership with our business community.”

The focus of the event was to allow individuals the chance to “teach for a day” to underscore the critical role communities need to play in education and enhance the learning experience for students, Dana Schafer, director of communications for the Osceola County School District, said.

Celebration High School hosted nearly 60 guest speakers, more than any other school in the district, a feat principal Laura Rhinehart credits to community outreach.

“We take it very seriously,” she said.

Months in advance, Celebration High School teachers and staff were urged to contact friends, relatives, spouses and students’ parents to get them signed up for the event.

“We’ve really tried to focus on careers,” Rhinehart said.

U.S history and government teacher Gabe Rountree credited the event with giving students messages of real life experiences and specific themes for students to take into the future.

“They may not get it all from us because we’re so caught up in the curriculum,” he said. “Depending on  (the students’) maturity level, (the event) has a lot of potential.”

Commercial lending banker Marcos Rubert echoed Rountree’s comments about the event’s message, at least at the high school level, being taken to heart by students closer to graduation.

Rubert said he told students his profession was like being “Santa Claus 12 months of the year” and “helps people’s dreams come true.”

Rubert also said he wanted to give the students useful information they could walk away with and focused on the importance of saving as a teenager and investing early in life.

“The older kids definitely took something away from it,” he said.

The teach-in was part of American Education Week sponsored by the National Education Association and is an annual national celebration of public education. It was first observed in 1921 to inform the public of the accomplishments and needs of public schools.