INA, Ill. — What do you want to be when you grow up? Some of us may still be searching for the answer to that question. Franklin County students had a chance to explore a variety of careers during an eighth grade teen conference.

The event, hosted by University of Illinois Extension, kicked off with a keynote address on distracted driving from Trooper Bridget Rice, who serves as the safety education officer for the Illinois State Police. Rice warned students that texting is six times more dangerous than drunk driving. She also noted that distracted driving could take on many forms, such as eating, adjusting the radio or entering an address into a GPS. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving claimed the lives of 2,841 people in 2018.

Students then attended four breakout sessions throughout the Rend Lake College campus to learn more about occupations in areas such as technology, finance, sports therapy, veterinary medicine, agriculture, social work, first response and culinary arts.

4-H Extension Program Coordinator Cindy Bauman has been coordinating this event for thirteen years.

“Kids this age may not know what they want to do. This conference allows them to hear directly from people working in each line of work. They had hands-on experience with equipment and could ask questions about each occupation area,” said Bauman.

Schools represented at the event include Akin, Benton, Christopher, Ewing, Sesser-Valier, Thompsonville, and Ziegler-Royalton.

News Source: Cindy Bauman, (618) 439-3178, bauman1@illinois.edu

News Writer: Heather Willis, (618) 357-2126, hdwillis@illinois.edu