Students learn career options from the pros

Loch Lomond Elementary School students piled into a custom-built stretch Hummer limousine on Thursday afternoon. The classy car was part of Career Day at the school on Augusta Road near Manassas.

People representing 25 careers were there to talk to the students about various jobs.

A toxicologist and the father of one student came in to explain to students what he does all day. Other speakers included a park ranger from the Manassas National Battlefield Park, a Virginia Department of Transportation employee, a banker and a doll collector.

Some students found picking a job quite easy a doctor or teacher, they decided. Others like third-grader Kimberly Jahoda wants to be an aerobics instructor.

We are having a blast, Kimberly said. I learned I want to be an aerobics instructor, and that the oxygen mask in the ambulance is not a fire extinguisher.

Teachers also had a good time.

The teachers planned trips they could take with the stretch Hummer while their students asked limo driver Mike Stokes which celebrities he has driven.

The teachers already had plans to take the vehicle to Atlantic City or the beach, until they learned the price: $125 an hour for local travel.

[The limousine is] really neat with the laser show, and you can feel the music beating through the seats, it is like a back massage, said Rebecca Yeargo, a retired teacher who came to volunteer.

This is the schools second Career Day and coordinator Anna Griffith said she looks for a variety of careers that could be represented.

I start with the teachers and parents and I send out fliers asking if they know anyone who might be interested in coming out, Griffith said. I think this year we had a really good mix. Even the teachers were excited.

Stokes, a former Manassas elementary student, ran into his former teacher while he was showcasing his career.

That is so great that he used to be a student of mine, said former counselor and teacher Etta Salley. I remember him from back in the sixth grade.

Last year, everyone wanted to check out the suped-up police cruiser, Salley said. This year the police were here checking the limos out.

And just who has been cruising around the area in the limo? Why, none other than his Airness Michael Jordan and singers Pink and Destinys Child.