B.E.A.M event highlights careers in energy to local students

One of the 115 local high school students who recently attended the annual Blacks In Energy Awareness Month (B.E.A.M.) event at Plant Watson captured the spirit of the day when asked what she learned.

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” she said.

That lesson was learned as students capped off the day working in teams to see who could build the tallest structure using only the items they were given. Some stood tall, some failed, but all involved figuring out the idea behind the interactive project.

“When you’re working in the real world, sometimes you have to do the best with what you have,” said Human Performance Coordinator Kenneth Means. “All of you took what you had and used it to get the job done.”

The event, organized by the American Association of Black Engineers, is geared toward getting high school kids interested in landing a possible job in the energy industry, or as Community Development representative Frank Magee put it, “for us it’s not a job, it’s a career.”

With that in mind, students learned about the variety of employment opportunities in the energy field, how to be successful at a job interview, scholarship possibilities, and also got an overview of Mississippi Power.

“Education and workforce development in our communities is important to Mississippi Power, and a large part of our corporate citizenship efforts,” said Brian Green, community development project manager. “We hope that by educating students about careers in energy, we help to develop our future workforce. In addition, having diversity in that workforce is a priority for our company. Partnering with AABE is a great way to engage minority students in our communities.”

Students like Pascagoula High School senior Gabriela Wells seemed to take notice of what a potential career in energy has to offer.

“I learned that there are different options available to get the career that I want,” Wells said. “It doesn’t have to be where I go to college then get a job. I could co-op, or go to a community college, and there are different jobs within this field. This seminar really opens your eyes to the possibilities.”