Middle school students expand their horizons at NPCC

More than 300 girls from 13 middle schools attended the Expanding Your Horizons Conference at North Platte Community College on Wednesday.

They rotated to workshops of their choice throughout the morning, listening to presentations and participating in hands-on activities intended to introduce them to a variety of career fields.

Students had the option of learning about: robotics, radiography, pharmacy, dentistry, physical therapy, chiropractic care, nursing, veterinary technology, entomology, jobs within the Nebraska Game and Parks system, occupations in energy and high voltage electrical construction, meteorology, banking, kitchen design, photography, TV reporting, 911 dispatching, law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical services.

Activities included holding snakes, petting alligators and racing cockroaches. Students acted out skits about the nervous system, watched taser demonstrations and programmed robots.

The sessions were led by volunteers from 21 area businesses, and most of the presenters were women.

Life coach Kathy Bourque was the featured speaker for the conference. She spoke to the students about positive thinking, leadership and the importance of learning from mistakes.

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you perceive or interpret it,” said Bourque. “Choose how you want to respond to things because that’s where your power is.”