Questar III Teaching Assistant Graham Tichy, front center, leads an all-star lineup of local musicians at the Career Day held at Columbia-Greene Community College on January 4. He is joined on stage by his father and RPI professor Dr. John Tichy, Peggy LeCuyer on Mandolin, Stephen Orsini on bass and Pete Vumbacco on drums.
More than 1,200 tenth and eleventh grade students from every high school in Columbia and Greene Counties attended the 27th Annual Career Day at the Columbia Greene Community College in Hudson on January 4. In addition, many Questar III BOCES staff members served as panelists in the various career forums.
Sponsored and coordinated by the Columbia-Greene Counselor’s Association and Columbia Greene Community College, this year’s event featured 160 panelists from 24 different career fields ranging from health care to communications to automotive.
“This has to be the longest running Career Day of its kind in the state,” said Ted Hennessy, Questar III BOCES Career Development Specialist. “It’s a huge even that requires a great deal of coordination and planning on the part of the counselors in our component districts. I haven’t seen anything else like it in my travels.”
The first event – coordinated by the late Cathie Whitbeck of Questar III, Ginny Ambrose of Cairo Durham, Naomi Weiner of Catskill and Sue Strong of Ichabod Crane – was held in 1986.
According to Strong, who is now a guidance counselor at Questar III’s Columbia-Greene Educational Center, this event allows high school students to explore careers they may be interested in pursuing. Many students also complete a follow up research paper based on what they learned at the event.
The event also gives students a chance to visit a college campus, something 75 percent of them have never done before. “Columbia-Greene Community College has been very generous in donating their buildings and staff to put on this event,” said Strong. “Students are exposed to the college too, so it’s beneficial for all involved.”
During the event, students visited two different career forums of their choice to learn about the various career options available. Panelists from the respective field talked about their day-to-day activities, career path and reasons for choosing the career they did.
Panelists from Questar III included Rose Helinski, Ed Hull, Ed Luther, Peter Desmond, Travis Costello, Dave Dimmitt, Bill Ebel, Brian Gagne, Lynn Seftner, Graham Tichy, Ted Hennessy, Sue Strong and Erin Clary.
Students also attended a special session sponsored and coordinated by the Questar III Career Center. With Hennessy as the host, Questar III Human Resources Specialist Seth Stanton as the announcer, and Questar III Teaching Assistant Graham Tichy as the musical director, students participated in a game show-type career presentation. Showcasing various careers in technology, the presentation also showed students how to balance a “day job” with a musical career, as all the panelists were established musicians from the area.
