8th grade students at Middlesex Middle School had the opportunity to learn about many fascinating careers presented by a very talented group of professionals who live in our community. At MMS Annual Career Day, the students were able to explore a wide variety of career fields ranging from medicine to military, finance to fashion, architecture to app design, and law to music production.
The opening keynote speaker was Dennis Swanson who is President of Station Operations for Fox Television and whose grandson Edward Glassmeyer is an 8th grader at MMS. Mr. Swanson’s many accomplishments in broadcast television include creating the Oprah Winfrey show, reinventing Monday Night Football and staggering the winter and summer Olympics.
Swanson’s presentation included video clips from USA Olympic Goalie Jonathan Quick and from former MMS student and current Varsity Lacrosse Player at Duke, Case Matheis, who echoed Swanson’s advice to the students to find their passion, work hard, and stick with it.
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After Mr. Swanson’s presentation, the 8th graders had the chance to attend four breakout sessions with local professions in various careers including, Liz-Ann Sonders – Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab, artist Andrea Bonfils, App Designer Alex Britton, Margot Fooshee – Snr. VP Marketing at J.Crew, Frank Piazza - Music Producer, Dwight Collins - former US Navy Seal, and Broadway Actress Anne Tolpegin, just to name a few.
MMS’s Career Day closing speaker was Mary Pat Augenthaler, the vice president of events for the NFL, who explained the intricate and extensive planning that goes into producing the NFL’s Super Bowl events. Augenthaler also entertained the captive audience with videos showing recaps of the 2013-2014 NFL season and past Super Bowls.
