P2P not just for students anymore
The fourth annual Pathways2Possibilities event was inspirational for 6,700 eighth-grade students from Mississippi’s six coastal counties.
As always, the students got an up-close-and-personal look at potential careers in 19 different fields and were treated to every hands-on activity one could imagine.
“This year 35 schools from the Coastal six counties are represented,” said Mississippi Power Community Development Representative Ann Holland, who coordinated the energy section of P2P. “Each year we raise the amount of stations the students visit and the information they receive.”
While the kids learn about possible future career paths, adults like a group from the Stone County Economic Development Partnership are using P2P as a reconnaissance mission of sorts.
“We think this is a fantastic event that could help us down the road,” said Betsy Rowell, Stone County EDP executive director. “We’re hoping to create a similar type of event in our school district for high school students. We’d love to expose those students at the next level to this type of environment.”
For Biloxi Junior High School guidance counselor Alisha McMillan, P2P is like having office visits with 450 eighth-graders all at the same time.
“This event brings to life what we try to teach them every day at school,” McMillan said. “It’s a real eye-opener for them because many times it’s hard for students to relate to certain careers unless they see them firsthand.”
What those students received is a mix of information and onsite demonstrations — everything from drone vehicle maintenance, to model cooling towers and infrared imaging.
“We’re excited to bring here what we do every day and demonstrate in local classrooms,” said Michael Henderson, a senior maintenance specialist at Plant Daniel. “A spot opened up this year and we jumped on it.”
So did several company engineers and co-op students working at the “iCan! Girls In Engineering” station.
“I love working with the kids,” said Bailey Dillinger, a COOP-Technical working out of the Biloxi Service Center. “We’ve shown them a few simple examples of how to build something by stacking bundles of paper on top of each other. One group stacked 23 bundles high. It’s been fun to watch them learn.”
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 186,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power earned the 2015 ReliabilityOneTM Award for outstanding midsize utility for excellence in storm restoration and recovery efforts as well as being a leader in reliability, customer service and safety. Visit our websites at www.mississippipower.com and www.mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.