A coroner, a beautician and a scuba diver were three of about 55 representatives from the community that participated in Carson Middle School's sixth annual Career Day on Tuesday.
"It's not everywhere that you could get 55 people to spend two to three hours of their day talking to the students," said Principal Tom Badillo. "In that respect, Carson City is pretty unique."
He said the event serves a dual purpose.
"It's good for the kids and it's good for the people in the community," Badillo said. "They read things in the paper that are wrong with the school and when they get to see the school and the kids, they get a more positive image. They're good kids, you just have to see them."
Kitty Jackson, a hair stylist from Cutting Loose Hair Design, said she was impressed with the leadership students, who organized the fair.
Jackson said the students met her at her car when she arrived, carried her props and showed her to the classroom where she would be giving her presentation.
The students also decorated the library where they hosted a luncheon for the participants after the presentation.
"That's really good that they had so many students participating and helping everybody," Jackson said.
Jackson handed out samples of hair-care products and airbrushed the girls' fingernails as part of her presentation.
Rachel Strull, an eighth-grade member of the leadership class, said she enjoyed ushering participants to their classrooms.
"I want to see who's coming to the school," she said. "I can see that there's a lot of different career opportunities."
Seventh-grader Amanda Perez said her favorite of all the presentations was the musician.
"I like to play music and he played jazz music from seven different guitars," she said.
Students were given the list of participants two weeks ago and chose their top six choices. They were matched with four speakers.
Eighth-graders were given first priority, seventh-graders second priority and sixth-graders were last.
Pam Quilici, the leadership teacher, said Career Day is one of the highlights for students.
"The students are so excited for Career Day," she said. "It's one of those things they look forward to all year."
Amy Sue Hayes, obstetrician and gynecologist, said she felt it was important to show the girls that women have just as many career options as men.
"So often, girls get the message that they can't do everything they want to, especially when it comes to math and sciences," she said.
She said middle school is a good age to reach them.
"A lot of what people are going to become starts to form now," she said. "A lot of decisions they make today determine what choices they will make in high school and later in life."
Former Carson Middle school student, Lonnie Cornforth, returned to give students a look into his life as press operator at the Nevada Appeal.
"I went to school here and I thought it would be neat to do," he said. "Nobody ever does printing. I'd never even heard of it until I stumbled into the job."
