Career Week 2025
What do you want to be when you grow up? For more than thirty years, Saint James 8th graders have taken their first steps toward that question during our signature 8th Grade Career Week. With extraordinary support from our parents and the wider community, students spend time shadowing professionals and gaining a real-world look at a variety of careers. The program has even earned national recognition from the National Middle School Association for its effective middle-level practices.
This November, our 8th graders once again stepped into workplaces across our community as part of Career Week. They met with professionals, asked questions, and explored paths they may never have considered. Below, hear directly from a few of our students as they reflect on what they learned.
Keagan Cantrell shadowed Mrs. Megan Deal, STJ Kindergarten teacher.
“My fellow classmates and I got to do a thing called career week, where we got to shadow three people. I had so much fun! One of the careers I shadowed was a kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Deal. I was so honored for the chance to get to know all the kids. They truly made my day. I got to watch their play practice and we got to make really cool headbands that showed what you are grateful for. It was so cool getting to see all of the things kindergarteners get to do. It was like I was just in kindergarten. All of the kindergarteners showed me something special! They made me realize that we can take life for granted a lot and that we always need to find the joy in life, and they also showed me to be so grateful for what we have!”
“Ever since I was in 6th grade and heard about my brother doing career week in 8th grade, I was super excited for the opportunity. One of the jobs I shadowed was Dr. Jay Robertson at Montgomery Dentistry. Although I always have had some interest in this field, this visit made me realize that dentistry is a career path that I may want to follow. I had the chance to stand and watch multiple operations, from wisdom teeth being taken out to ordinary checkups. I shadowed Dr. Robertson with some of my friends, and we got to create little molds of our teeth. I learned a lot from this experience and it gave me a new perspective on pursuing this career.”
Miles Bleiberg shadowed Dr. Jay Robertson, dentist with Montgomery Dentistry.
Addison Brunson shadowed Dana Fitzpatrick, Occupational Therapist with Baptist Health.
Saint James School’s Career Week Program allows students to explore careers they might be interested in; which in turn, helps students with course selections in high school and also college choices. Our students truly enjoy going out into the workforce and learning about life beyond middle and high school!
#wearesaintjamesschool
“I shadowed Dana Fitzpatrick who is a physical therapist that works at Baptist East Hospital. I learned that there are three levels at the hospital, Physical Therapy, OT, Pediatric OT, and Speech. An OT helps people learn how to do daily activities if something happens to them like a stroke. Putting on clothes could be a challenge, so they teach you how to put on your clothes again. I got to watch a child speech therapist session go on. The lady worked on pronunciation and comprehension. I also got to watch a Pediatric OT help a 8 month old baby to continue her growth. She has scoliosis which makes her lean a certain way. The OT was working on her crawling, because 9 month olds start to crawl, he wanted to make sure she developed the correct way. The last thing I got to do was go up to the NICU. I got to watch the doctor feed and check out the baby to make sure everything was going right. I learned about the bed the baby sleeps in, the bed mimics the mothers movements, which helps the baby’s temperatures and other features. The doctor also let me feed the baby! I was so excited I got to shadow her and learn a lot about physical therapy.”